The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Tuesday asserted its achievement of keeping intact the India growth story, with a confident Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hitting out at detractors, saying, “Despite an adverse international environment, the economy grew about seven per cent in 2011-12, among the highest in the world.”
While listing out the achievements of the UPA government, the prime minister also acknowledged the “large unfinished agenda” and the “public anger against corruption.” He, however, shied away from clearing the air on the crucial issues of inflation and the rupee’s depreciation. Echoing similar views, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi said, “The country has faced economic difficulties, but there is no scope for disappointment.”
Singh said among the achievements of UPA-II, were the declining poverty rate, the record foodgrain production, agricultural loans, the success of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and India’s telecom market, one of the fastest-growing ones.
| UPA CHAIRPERSON SONIA GANDHI |
| On UPA’s achievements: |
| * MGNREGA has become an instrument of more effective changes in the area of generation of rural employment. |
| * In the unorganised sector there is an expansion of employment generation and insurance of the labour employed. |
| * New initiatives in the education sector have helped socially-backward communities. |
| On economy and foreign investment: |
| * Nowadays, there is a notion that there are several challenges for India’s development. Definitely, it is a tough period for all the countries and we are not an exception. But there is no scope for disappointment |
| “We are aware that only two years are left when we will be seeking a new mandate from the people. We are fully aware that the result of that will not depend on our promises but on the nature of work done by us” |
He also listed the challenges confronting the economy—the need to take tough decisions on “spending and revenue mobilisation”, the need for fiscal prudence for both the Centre and the states and boosting the industrial investment climate to encourage both domestic and foreign investment by removing bottlenecks. Silencing critics who “questioned the sustainability of our (the) growth process,” he said the government was aware of the “pressures on our balance of payments and that the fiscal situation needs careful management.”
He also termed the need to resolve issues relating to land acquisition, resettlement and the environment an “urgent priority”. With the UPA already committing itself to the Food Security legislation, the prime minister also mentioned the need to build more storage capacity and minimise foodgrain wastage.
Wary of mentioning coalition partners and political parties that have held up key economic reforms (foreign direct investment in the retail sector and the insurance and pension reform sectors), Singh urged “political parties to rise above partisan considerations” so that the country could face the current global challenges.
Exuding confidence in the achievements of the UPA on the economic front, Sonia Gandhi reminded the government success in the 2014 elections would depend on the work done by the UPA government, not on its promises.