NEW DELHI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday asked party leaders and workers to actively propagate and monitor the implementation of social welfare measures being implemented by the United Progressive Alliance Government and also counter the "misleading propaganda" of some State Governments.

Referring to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Ms. Gandhi said she was aware that some party workers were agitated that the programme was being propagated as an initiative of the State Government while in reality 90 per cent of the funding was coming from the Centre.

"Had we not been in power, the Act would not be in place. I know the Prime Minister is looking into this but at the same time our party leaders and workers must be very active in countering this misleading propaganda," she told the general body of the Congress Party in Parliament.

Ms. Gandhi said the All-India Congress Committee had already activated the State and district units to get involved in the 200 districts where registration of job seekers under the Act had begun. By the middle of the next month, the party would have a convention of 200 district units.

Similarly, while the Government had achieved much in just 20 months, there was a need to place over-riding emphasis on the actual execution of major programmes like the Bharat Nirman, the Rural Employment Guarantee or the National Rural Health Mission.

"The full effect of these schemes must begin to be felt at the village level well before the year is out. This is where our party MPs, MLAs and workers must play a major role by raising public awareness, by ensuring social mobilisation and by keeping watch as implementation unfolds," she said.

On the political front, the Congress president said, while the Government had succeeded in reviving economic growth and renewing investor confidence, it also placed greater responsibility on the party to ensure that the benefits of growth flowed to the weaker sections.

Expressing anguish over the manner in which the sentiments of Muslims were hurt by the publication of offensive material, she said the Government had registered a strong protest with the Government of Denmark.

"Our party also strongly condemned this. I want to make it very clear that the Congress condemns the denigration of any faith," she said.

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