Tuesday, August 30 2005 17:17 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hailed as 'historic' the Monsoon Session of Parliament, which concluded today (Aug 30, 2005) but regretted the inability to bring the Women's Reservation Bill in the session.

"I regret the inability to move ahead on the reservation of seats for women in the highest decision-making bodies of our country. "But I reiterate our commitment to this just demand of half of our population," he said in the Lok Sabha shortly before the session was adjourned sine die.

At the outset, the Prime Minister said "we come to the end of an important session ... Indeed, one could call it a historic session for, in this session, we have taken several legislative steps to empower our people especially the weaker sections of our society and strengthen our body politic".

He said that he was happy that in this session, "the poorest of our people have been assured an important fruit of democracy, the assurance of gainful employment. Our government is proud of the Rural Employment Guarantee Bill that this House has approved in this session".

The challenge, he said, was now in how well this assurance was implemented and its benefits reach the intended beneficiaries. "Great responsibility rests on the shoulders of those charged with the responsibillity of implementing the Employment Guarantee Act, particularly on the panchayati raj institutions," Singh said.

He said utmost care would be needed in selecting viable projects and in ensuring that there were no leakages and avenues of corruption in the utilisation of funds.

"People's faith in democracy is not based on the promises we make or even on the laws we enact. It is only when the tangible and the not so tangible fruits of democracy impact on the lives of the people that their faith is renewed," the Prime Minister said.

He said that the government was proud that the session passed a bill amending the Hindu Succession Act to fulfil "a long-standing promise we had made to our sisters and daughters". "We are equally committed to the empowerment of women", Singh said.

The Prime Minister expressed his appreciation to Speaker Somnath Chatterjee for his "fortitude, wisdom, and your inestimable patience and transparent sincerity in trying to conduct the proceedings of this House".

He also placed on record his deep and sincere appreciation of the leadership provided by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the members of the National Advisory Committee she heads for the legislations passed.