Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said he was willing to subject himself to the scrutiny of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament on the 2G spectrum scam.
Possibly buoyed by Congress President Sonia Gandhi's resounding vote of confidence in him yesterday, Singh, who has been silent for nearly two weeks on the allegation that he too had a role in the scam, said today the party's and government's stand on corruption was unambiguously clear: Whether at the states or at the Centre, we have asked our ministers and chief ministers to step down even at a hint of suspicion because “we practice and believe in principled politics”, he said.
Referring to the Commonwealth Games and 2G controversy, he said inquiries would be pursued vigorously “and it is my promise to you that no guilty person will be spared - whether he is a political leader or a government official, whichever party he may belong to and howsoever powerful he may be”.
He was speaking at the party’s plenary session here.
Singh said no purpose would be served by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), when the Public Accounts Committee has the powers to call for a debate in Parliament as well.
Under the terms of the Constitution, the PAC can only summon officials in the ministry. In what capacity the PM will appear before the PAC is unclear. But he did say that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) “was implying that I have something to hide. I may have made mistakes in the six-and-a-half years that I have been Prime Minister. But I have served the country sincerely. Like Caesar's wife, the Prime Minister must be above suspicion. For this reason, I am ready to appear before the PAC though there is no precedent for the PM doing so,” he said amid applause.
While complimenting India on the management of its finances in the midst of a global economic crisis, he tweaked downward predictions of the rate of economic growth by his Finance Minister.
Pranab Mukherjee had said the economy would grow at the rate of 9 per cent this year. The PM said the rate of growth would be 8.5 per cent for the full year and "from next year onwards, we will be able to grow between 9 and 10 per cent".
On the social sector, the PM told his party special attention would be paid to the secondary education sector now that children in elementary school enjoyed the right to education. The Integrated Child Development Services would be strengthened to address malnutrition among children. Food security provisions were at an advanced stage of discussion. But the Public Distribution System needed to be made effective. Finishing touches were being given to the Rajiv Awas Yojana to have a slum-free India. And "we need to be mindful of environmental concerns in all our developmental projects".
The PM said inflation should sta bilise around 5.5 per cent by March. He flagged Left-backed insurgency and internal security as the two serious challenges to India.
