Aam admi to be more in focus

A sense of urgency can be detected in the Congress-led UPA government's attempt to shift its policy stance with a series of initiatives aimed at reinforcing its image as a government for the common man.

With around 724 days left in its five-year tenure that began on May 24, 2004, the government, which spent considerable time and energy in the past taking up issues like higher FDI in insurance and pension, the SEZs initiative and even retail trade, is now heavily focused on three sectors, namely, agriculture, power and education.

A massive push in education has already begun and would include setting up a central university in every state, extending the coverage of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan to secondary education and a focused programme to boost vocational education.

A meeting is scheduled for June 1, in which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet HRD Minister Arjun Singh and top officials in the HRD ministry to discuss the initiative to upgrade education.

Major initiatives are under way in the power and agriculture sectors too, both being sufficiently important for the PM to chair two successive meetings on May 28 and 29.

Furthermore, the current week will seem like a milestone in the Centre's policy-making. Quick decisions are expected in upcoming Cabinet meetings.

Observers detect a sense of urgency in the Centre's attempts to promote 'inclusive growth'. Significantly, policy decisions have time lines "" from two months to finalise the civil aviation policy, to sorting out issues to electrify 100,000 villages in a few weeks.

On May 22, when he presented the report to the people of the UPA's three years, the PM offered a glimpse of the renewed priorities of the government for its remaining tenure.

"In the next two years, we will focus on ensuring that important flagship programmes we have launched are properly implemented. We will ensure that the enormous resources that are being invested fetch the desired results," he had said.

Accordingly, the PM is devoting time during the next fortnight to a series of meetings aimed at evaluating the success and implementation of all existing flagship schemes like the employment guarantee programme, the urban renewal as well as the rural health mission.