Curb subsidies, promote welfare, says Manmohan

Left stays away from govt's 1-year celebrations

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today called for reduction of wasteful subsidies in order to direct these into much-needed social sector expenditure, investment and employment generation.

He called for a redefinition of the role of the government from being a provider of goods and services to being a regulator and a facilitator ensuring fair play.

"Increasingly, governments' attention, and indeed expenditure patterns, is shifting towards the provision of physical and human infrastructure to enable individual players to compete in global markets," the prime minister said. He added that reform of government in tune with new priorities was essential.

Addressing his council of ministers and UPA partners at a function where UPA Chairman Sonia Gandhi made the opening remarks, Singh reviewed the performance of his government during the past year and outlined the tasks""especially the economic tasks""ahead.

Emphasising the urgent need to re-structure public expenditure and improve the working of ministries, the prime minister said he would like to see an improvement in public finances at all levels of the government.

Singh said Bharat Nirman"" which he described as a time-bound business plan for action in rural infrastructure for the next four years""along with the missions on rural health, horticulture and urban renewal, will be the leitmotif of the government's plans for rural India.

"Agriculture continues to be an area requiring priority attention and we are committed to imparting greater scientific and technological inputs for transforming Indian agriculture," he said.

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

Only obliquely referring to a more investor-friendly regime, the prime minister promised that while focusing on generating new employment, "we will improve the climate for investment".

He emphasised on equity and said it was the responsibility of the government to ensure that those who were adversely affected by the winds of change were able to adjust to the new realities and economic opportunities. He also referred to India's young population which will become its greatest strength in the coming years.

"Are we doing enough to educate them? To equip them intellectually so that every citizen becomes an economic asset and not a social liability? Are we doing enough to invest in the capabilities of our next generation? Their health care, their employment opportunities, their leisure time activities?" he asked.

Singh referred to Sonia Gandhi as upholding the tradition of the sages and saints of yore by her renunciation of power and made laudatory references to her five times in the speech. Booklets describing one year of the UPA were also released.