Thursday, March 10 2005 14:58 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (Mar 10, 2005) rejected leader of the Opposition L K Advani's description that he was "invisible", saying he should be judged by the performance of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government during the last nine months.

"It is not a question of being visible or not," he said stressing that it was the conduct of the Government that had to be taken note of.

Replying to the marathon debate on the motion of thanks on the President's address, Singh said where ever people were in distress in the last nine months, he and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had visited those States.

The Prime Minister said that when there was drought in Andhra Pradesh and a situation had emerged where farmers were committing suicide, he had travelled to that State.

Singh said that when floods hit Bihar and Assam, he had undertaken visits to both the States.

He had visited JK twice in the last six months and also met tsunami-hit people in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Pondicherry.

The Prime Minister said that the UPA Government has been implementing the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP).

"Our record speaks for itself," he said.

Expressing concern over the poor infrastructure in the country, Singh said the allocation for various sectors have been enhanced considerably.

"We will increase public investments in these crucial areas," he said noting this should be done along with greater participation of the private sector.

The Prime Minister said that the UPA Government had developed a comprehensive, systematic approach to the internal security, relating to extremists, militancy in the North-East and Jammu and Kashmir.

He said the UPA Government would work with State Governments in tackling the problem in all its dimensions - political, economic, social and administrative.

He said that the Union Government will provide assistance to States in meeting the situation and will bear the expenditure for additional Central forces in the affected areas.