‘We mean action not words’
New Delhi: With its image dented by scams, the Congress-led UPA government on Sunday night pledged to take corruption head on and promised to punish the guilty, demonstrating through actions and not words what it meant.
Presenting the UPA’s report card on completion of two years in the second term, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi gave an assurance that the government would prevent scams in future and reduce discretionary and arbitrary use of powers by public officials.
In her brief remarks in “Government of the UPA: Report to the People 2010-11”, Gandhi said, “We will take the issue of corruption head on and demonstrate, through actions, and not words, that we mean what we say.”
Singh and Gandhi presented the report at a function at the Prime Minister’s residence and attended by leaders of coalition partners and outside supporters like Samajwadi Party and RJD.
DMK, sulking in the wake of poll debacle and the arrest of its MP Kanimozhi, made a token presence with the attendance of its Parliamentary Party chief T R Baalu. None of its six ministers was present.
With his government reeling under attack over several scams in the last many months, Singh said, “there is the challenge of good governance and the need for political stability.
“In the past several months, a conjunction of several developments relating to 2G spectrum allocation, procurement and contracting issues related to the Commonwealth Games, and similar issues in state governments have brought public focus on the issue of corruption in public life.”
The 74-page report presented the achievements in various fields like economy, agriculture, rural development, education and healthcare. (PTI)