The Hindu : Front Page : PM promises an accountable Government

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 16, 2004

Front Page

PM promises an accountable Government

By Our Special Correspondent

``Today, I have no promises to make, but I have promises to keep.''
``The waters of our sacred rivers have for centuries nurtured our civilisation... . We cannot allow these waters to divide us.''
``The challenge for economic reform today is to breathe new life into Government.''

— Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

A MOMENT OF PRIDE: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inspecting a guard of honour during Independence Day at Red Fort.

NEW DELHI, AUG. 15. "Today I am not here to make any promises, but have promises to keep." This sentence summed up the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh's first Independence Day address to the nation from the Red Fort. His accent was on reforming the ways the Government functioned. Rather than announce the familiar package of schemes and initiatives, the new Prime Minister chose to spell out the idea that national progress was a collective enterprise, not just a Government project.

During his 40-minute speech, Dr. Singh acknowledged that "the real challenge for me and for the Government at all levels is the challenge of implementation of our stated policies and programmes." That means, the Governments have to deliver. "We have to make officials accountable — make Government more transparent. We have to make public enterprises more efficient. Citizens increasingly demand Governments that are accountable to them. They have a concern both for probity and efficiency in public affairs," he added.

Dressed in a white kurta-pajama, Dr. Singh stood out in sharp contrast to the dark-suited SPG personnel as he took the traditional salute from a contingent of three services and police contingent. His trade-mark blue turban was a gentle reminder that for the first time the country had a Prime Minister from a minority community. In fact, in the first part of his speech, Dr. Singh reaffirmed "the principles of secularism, social justice and equality of all before law" as the defining features of our nation.

Ethics in public life

Dr. Singh referred to "the question of ethics in public life [that] has repeatedly agitated our people." He said: "The time has come for us to consensually evolve a code of conduct for all political parties, a code of ethics for all individuals in public life, and a code of best practices for the Government at all levels." The Prime Minister suggested this was not a partisan matter and that "we must also look within our parties, and ourselves and ask ourselves what is the root cause of the decline in the values in public life?"

While spelling out the seven priorities of his Government, as mandated in the Common Minimum Programme, and dwelling at some length what it would take to enhance the Government's capacity to deliver, the Prime Minister made a passing reference to the threat of terrorism and noted: "Violence has never helped in the progress and prosperity of any society. We will fight this menace to civilized existence with determination."

However, he neither mentioned the violence in Manipur and the rest of the north-east nor took note of the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. But he did observe that "we are willing to talk to any group provided they abjure the path of violence."

As for our neighbours, the Prime Minister said that "we are not only bound together by our common borders but also by our common destiny." On Pakistan, he declared his Government's "intention to carry forward with firm resolve and sincerity the composite dialogue process with Pakistan." He emphasised "mutual trust and confidence" as key to progress in the peace process and entered the caveat that "trends of cross-border terrorism and violence make our task more difficult and complex."

Invoking the familiar national icons — the Mahatma, Jawaharlal Nehru, B.R. Ambedkar, Indira Gandhi — the Prime Minister used the occasion to send out a message of optimism and promise, provided the country guarded its pluralistic ethos.

He expressed the hope for a bright future only if we could re-kindle the idealism and perseverance demonstrated in the struggle against the British, because "we have the potential to change the fate and the face of India."