Monday, May 23 2005 12:59 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Promising "out-of-the-box" initiatives, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday (May 22, 2005) outlined a multi-pronged approach to carry forward the reforms process and improved governance as United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government completed one year with alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi highlighting the need for cohesiveness.

At a low-key celebration of the completion of the UPA's one year in office, the Prime Minister said, "As we move ahead, we must focus on offering a more efficient Government. The reform of Government must acquire a higher profile in our priorities than has been the case so far."

The function at the Prime Minister's official residence was attended by UPA leaders and members of Council of Ministers, including Sharad Pawar, Laloo Prasad, Ram Vilas Paswan, K Chandrasekhar Rao and Dayanidhi Maran.

Left parties, which are supporting the Government from outside, did not attend the function but Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) general secretary Prakash Karat wrote a letter to the Prime Minister saying he looked forward to continued cooperation in implementing the Common Minimum Programme (CMP).

A highlight of the hour-long simple function was the release of a 42-page report - 'A Caring Government - One Year of the UPA Government' by the Prime Minister amid applause from coalition leaders and Ministers. He handed the first copy to Sonia.

Apparently with the concerns of the Left parties on her mind, Sonia told the UPA constituents, "The road map of our collective journey, the CMP, has many milestones that remain to be crossed". She preceded her statement by remarking, "We must not be lulled by any sense of complacency".

In his 25-minute address, broadcast by television channels, the Prime Minister said the people of the country were impatient for change, better quality of life and for new opportunities.

"We will be failing them if we do not think 'out-of-the-box' and act with courage. Bold initiatives are called for on the economic front. I would like to see an improvement in our public finances at all levels of Government," Singh said.

The Prime Minister, who devoted a sizeable portion of his address to the economy, said, "We must reduce wasteful subsidies and divert these resources into needed social sector expenditure, investment and employment generation is an urgent need for the restructuring of public expenditure and providing the working of Ministries."

The occasion saw Sonia hailing the Prime Minister for providing "dignified and effective leadership" to the Government while Singh thanking her for forging the alliance and making it work.

"The UPA came into existence last year and its Government is running smoothly, largely as a result of the strenuous efforts of Soniaji," Singh said.

The Prime Minister said, "The challenge before us is to combine the economics of growth with the economics of equity and social justice. We have no options but to walk on two legs."

He said the Employment Guarantee Act, which would be passed in all likelihood in the next session of Parliament, would be the primary vehicle of the Government for providing income security to the poorest sections of the society.

The Prime Minister as also Sonia made a veiled attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) with the UPA chief noting that the ruling alliance had to contend with an opposition, which had yet to accept that the people of the country rejected it convincingly in the Lok Sabha elections.

Observing that the mood of the country today was diametrically opposite to what was seen last year, Singh said "at that time, India was shining for a few and the Government could not see what was happening to the many. We have pledged to the people that we do want India to shine but shine for all".

The Prime Minister said as part of the Rs 1,74,000 crore 'Bharat Nirman', a new deal for rural India, a time-bound business plan for action in rural infrastructure ahs been chalked for the next four years.

Sonia, who is also head of the Congress, which had never shared power at the Centre earlier, admitted that her party had for the first time had to learn the ways of participating and governing in a coalition.

"My over-riding objective has been and will always be the smooth functioning of our UPA alliance," Sonia said adding that an UPA that is cohesive and consistent in word and deed could certainly provide liberating governance that is due to people.

The one year of UPA, she said, had amply demonstrated that parties could pursue much larger national interest without sacrificing their respective political and electoral goals.

The Prime Minister sought whole-hearted support of the people for the bold policy initiatives that the Government had to initiate to take the country forward.

He said a rapidly expanding economy alone could provide the country, the resources to deal effectively with problems of mass poverty.