PRIME MINISTER MANMOHAN SINGH’S TOP 10 POLICES FOR THE COUNTRY

Before I talk about the 10 top economic development policy of Manmohan Singh‘s I would like to briefly capture some of the highlights of the various activities that has been achieved in the various sectors by the Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh.

India is today widely seen as poised to embark on sustained high growth path of the type achieved by a handful of countries in the past. The PM is confident that we will be able to deliver on the promises so that India moves rapidly in to the ranks of middle income countries, free from the burden of poverty, ignorance and disease that has held us down for so long. In charting this transition our development strategy will be firmly focused on making our growth process socially inclusive and regionally balanced. The government’s end objective it to reduce inequities and inequalities that exists in our country.

As a country we have moved ahead on several fronts to achieve these goals. Efforts have been made to increase the support prices for farmers and investment in rural infrastructure, including roads; housing, electricity and sanitation have been made. Sincere efforts have been made to build a rights based framework in several critical areas. As a new initiative we have moved further in this direction by introducing the right to education and very soon we propose to introduce a legislation giving our citizens the right to food.

One of the other thrust areas has been the expansion and strengthening of the education system at all levels i.e. elementary, secondary and high secondary. There has been a significantrise in number of school children at the elementary level. More than 11 crore people have been provided mid-day meals. Significant improvement has been made to close the gap between boys and girls SC & ST children. Progress has been made also in the higher education by bringing in new legislative framework to introduce new bills in the parliament. More IIM’s have been introduced and 10 new National Institutes of Technologies started functioning from July 2010.

The National Rural health Mission has helped to strengthen healthcare delivery systems in the country. There has been a substantial increase of in- patient and outpatient cases in public health system and there is encouraging evidence of increased institutional deliveries. All disease control programmes have also shown sustained improvement. Construction of six new AIIMS- like institutions is in full swing.

Infrastructure and energy sectors has received due attention in many ways. In the power sector one saw the highest ever capacity addition in a single year in the last 6 decades. Domestic crude oil production also increased by 11%.Availibity of natural gas touched 169 mmscmd, recording a major growth from 105 mmscmd in 2008-09. With the commissioning of the 4th unit at the Kaiga station in January 2011, the country has now 20 operating nuclear reactors with a total capacity of 4780 MWe. Rapid progress has been made in the nuclear fuel security, with the identification of additional uranium resources in Andhra Pradesh and Meghalaya. Commitments have been made to maintain the highest levels of safety in the nuclear programme, and have initiated process of strengthening the Atomic Energy Regulatory

Board and making it an autonomous independent regulatory authority. The year 2010-11 also saw the highest ever capacity addition from renewable energy sources in one year at 3157 MW.

The infrastructure and transportation has really shown some positive signs. To begin with The National Highways is proceeding well and will accelerate further in the years ahead. A special project for road infrastructure in areas affected by left wing extremism has been sanctioned, involving construction of 4942 km of roads. To extend the benefits of NHDP deeper into the less developed areas, all single lane National highways will be converted to two lane standards. A new integrated terminal in public private partnership mode became operational at the Indira Gandhi International airport at New Delhi, creating new bench marks for airport infrastructure being developed in the country. A similar airport is under construction in Mumbai. The modernization and development of Chennai and Kolkata airports are also in progress. The railways have demonstrated good growth in freight and passenger traffic. They have exceeded the past levels of achievements in new lines doubling of existing lines and gauge conversion. In the telecom sector country wide number portability was launched in January 2011.

The unique identification project AADHAAR was launched in 2010. By April 2011 more than 50 lakh AADHAAR numbers have already been generated. The AADHAAR project is expected to go a long way in helping targeted delivery of benefits to our people. It will also enable improvements in delivery in services across sectors and greater financial inclusion. It will help our objective of removing irregularities in the society.

The government firmly believes in giving full commitment to the welfare of the underprivileged. Here we have taken several initiatives to give focused attention to the issues concerning SC and ST Brothers and sisters, the minorities’ women and children. In general we improved upon the quality and reach of the special programs we are implementing in these groups. Going forward we are going to further strengthen and restructure the ICDS scheme to adopt a multi-sectorial approach in addressing child malnutrition in selected high- burdened districts.

Food inflation was a major concern in 2010-11 .The government has taken several steps and measures to address the problem, including a selective ban on exports and future trading in food grains, zero import duty on select food items , import of pulses and sugar by public sector undertakings, distribution system and release of higher quota of non-levy sugar. The fiscal stimulus is being rolled back. The Reserve Bank also took necessary steps to restrict excess liquidity. As a result inflation in pulses dipped in March 2011. However the long term solution to the problem lies in increasing productivity and production in a diverse range of agriculture commodities.

Two major initiatives were taken for the reform of our tax system were the introduction of the Direct Tax Code bill and the Constitution 115th Amendment bill for implementation of the Goods and Services Tax in Parliament. We stayed on the path to fiscal consolidation during 2010-11.

Your government has and will work tirelessly to build a modern and prosperous India, one in which all our citizens are guaranteed a life of peace, dignity and opportunity. We will work to give youth the training and the opportunity they need to succeed in a world where knowledge will be the great driver of economic prosperity. Our end objective is to remove inequities in our society, and for the uplift of

those who are under privileged. Our complete energies will be focused in making sure that the potential of our country and our people is fully achieved.

Now let’s closely look at some of the most important economic policies that Mr. Manmohan singh will continue to focus in the next few years. I have managed to capture the key nuggets of each of the policy.

1. ENABLING HUMAN DEVELOPOMENT

“We are committed to ensuring that all children, irrespective of gender and social category, have access to education. An education that enables them to acquire the skills, knowledge, values and attitudes necessary to become responsible and active citizens of India.”- Dr. Manmohan Singh

1.1. Education : a. Right of children to free and compulsory education (RTE) and SarvaShikshaAbhiyanb. Mid- day meals in schoolsc. Promoting Literacy – Saakshar Bharat d. Strengthening secondary education e. Reform of the higher education system to promote quality f. National Commission for Higher Education & Research ( NCHER)g. Setting up an Accreditation authority h. Prohibition of unfair practice in educational institution i. Educational tribunals j. Foreign educational service providers k. National Knowledge Network l. New Central Universities m. Colleges, IIM’s , IITs etc. to be set up

1.2. Health :a. National Rural Health Mission b. Human resources in health c. Pradhan MantriSwasthyaSurakshaYojnad. Aids control and care e. Ayurveda , Yoga Unani, Siddha Homeopathy Services f. Combating the H1N1 influenza g. National program for prevention and control of diabetes , cardiovascular disease and stroke h. Transplantation of human organs i. Clinical Establishments ( Registration and Regulation ) act 2010

1.3 Child Rights:

a. Universalisation of ICDS

b. National Commission for Protection of Child Rights

c. Integrated Child protection scheme

d. Prime Minister’s National council on Nutritional Challenges

e. Rajeev Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls

f. Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Bill

2. SOCIAL INCLUSION :

“Investing in women is the highest- return venture. It is not just about improving things for them, it is as vitally about letting women improve things for themselves, their families, their communities and the world at large. Even a small investment in women has great economic, political and social reverberations “ – Smt. Sonia Gandhi

1. Food security 2. Empowering Women

a. Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana b. Gender equality in matters of guardianship and adoption. c. Financial assistance and support services to victims of rape d. Protection of women against sexual harassment

3. Empowerment and development of the weaker sections a. Improving access to education b. Increasing outlays for scholarships c. Top class educational schemes d. Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship Scheme e. Credit in the form of concessional loan.

4. Enhanced outlays for schemes benefitting Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled castes.5. Vesting land rights in Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers. 6. Welfare and development of particularly vulnerable tribal groups. 7. An inclusive agenda for the Minorities

a. Targeting benefits of development to the minorities b. Prime Ministers new 15 point program for minorities

8. Improving access to :a. Education and Credit

9. Waqf development 10. Multi-sectoral district plans for minority concentration districts 11. Disability to empowerment :

a. New focus and increased outlays

b. Credit disbursal through the National Handicapped Finance & Development corporation 12. Caring for the Senior Citizen – ( Indira Gandhi National Old age Pension Scheme )13. Welfare initiatives for Defence personnel

a. Welfare of ex -serviceman b. Welfare of defence service personnel

14. Welfare of workers a. Rastriya Swasthya Bima Yojana b. Welfare of workers in the organized sector c. Other initiatives

15. Financial inclusion 16. Linguistic Inclusion 17. Census

3. RURAL RENEWAL :

“We have sought to bridge several divides in our country simultaneously the infrastructural divide through Bharat Nirman, the educational divide through the SarvaShikshaAbhiyanand the Right to Education, the health divide through the National Rural Health Mission and exclusion through targeted affirmative action programmers for minorities, Scheduled castes and by restoration of the rights of indigenous people or Scheduled Tribes over forests and forest produce “- Dr. Manmohan Singh

1. Bharat Nirman a. Rural housing b. Rural roadsc. Rural water supply d. Irrigation e. Power f. Rural Telecommunication & IT

2. Rural Employment a. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

3. Towards food security and welfare of farmers a. Managing Natural calamites b. Investing in Land c. Focus on inputs : Seeds, Fertilizers , credit

4. National food security mission 5. Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana6. Extension forms 7. National Horticulture Mission 8. Food processing industries

9. National e-Governance plan in Agriculture

10. Panchayati Raj

a. Backward region Grant fund b. E-governance for Panchayati Raj Institutions c. Reservation for women in Panchayatsd. Year of the GrahmSabha

4. TRANSFORMING CITIES :

“Quality is not something to be reserved only for prestigious projects. It should become part and parcel of our planning and design processes for all our public projects, including housing, schools, hospitals and other services. Providing basic rural and urban infrastructure efficiently, while at the same time meeting high standards must remain our goal.”- Dr.Manmohan Singh

1. Transforming Cities :a. Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal mission b. Mass transport c. Housing for the urban poor – Rajiv AwasYojanad. Public private partnership initiatives

5. ECONOMIC RESURGENCE

“Despite the global economic crisis we have maintained a healthy rate of growth ...Because of this increased rate of growth, we will able to invest more resources in the social sector, in education and in health. “- Dr. Manmohan Singh.

1. Economic growth – Investment climate 2. Fiscal Consolidation- Price situation, food inflation, measures to contain fuel inflation, inter-

ministerial group to review inflation ,Core group on prices, Direct tax code, Goods &Service Tax 3. People’s ownership of public sector enterprise 4. Industrial performance

a. Public sector enterprisesb. Board for reconstruction of Public sector enterprises

5. Manufacturing sector – National Manufacturing policy 6. Corporate Governance reforms 7. Heavy Industries 8. Micro, small and medium enterprises

9. Sectorial Performance – Information technology, Telecommunications, New telecom services, Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Regions,Pharmaceuticals, Steel, mines, Textiles Handloom and Handicraft and Jute.

10. Commerce – Free trade agreements 11. Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor 12. Energy : Coal, Power, Petroleum and Natural Gas ,Nuclear Energy and New renewable energy 13. Transport Infrastructures : Roads, Civil Aviation , Shipping and Railways

6. SUSTAINING THE ENVIRONMENT :

“ We must not forget that our lush forests and mountains, majestic rivers and all water sources , and clean air, have sustained and nurtured us for millennia .We have a responsibility to preserve them for the coming generations. “ -Sonia Gandhi

1. National Action plan on climate change 2. Forest Conservation 3. National Green Tribunal 4. Mission Clean Ganga 5. Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission 6. Promotion of Green Buildings

7. NEW HORZONS

The scientific and technological prowess of a nation is a major determinant of its state of development – Innovation and knowledge will be the key factors in our nation’s progress in the 21st Century. We must, therefore foster an environment that promotes and nurtures scientific achievement and makes us a world leader in creating intellectual property”. - Dr. Manmohan Singh

1. Science & Technology- Strengthening S&T and Innovation Infrastructure 2. Benefits of science for the people – Ayurgemonics, Carbon fibre technology, Sulphate of Potash,

Post-harvest technology centers, Medical techniques, South Pole expedition, Desalination Technology- Seawater into Potable water.

3. Island Development Program – Research funding 4. Space program 5. Information and Broadcasting 6. Tourism 7. Culture 8. Involving youth in the national building 9. Indian Post on move

8. MANAGING DISASTERS :

“I congratulate the brave personnel of the Army, the Air Force, BRO, ITBP and NDRF on their courage, tireless efforts and deep concern for their fellow citizens in distress.”- Dr.Manmohan Singh

1. Disaster specific guidelines and mainstreaming of disaster concerns 2. National disaster response force 3. Relief for floods 4. Mitigation projects 5. Relief for Leh and Kargil floods

9. NATIONAL SECURITY :

“An enlightened national security policy should therefore be based on a holistic appreciation of many inter –related aspects and concerns that impinge on a nation’s overall well-being “

1. Internal Security Initiatives :a. Operationalizing the National Investigation agency b. Countering terrorism c. Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & System d. Response to left wing extremism e. Modernization of state police forces f. Modernization of Central paramilitary forces g. Establishing National security Guards ( NSG) hubs h. Strengthening coast security

2. Managing Borders :a. Border Infrastructure b. Border area development c. Cross-Border services d. Defense Preparedness

10. BUILDING BRIDGES :

“Globalization and more inter-connected and inter dependent world in which we live in bring both new opportunities and new challenges “

1. External affairs a. Neighborhood and beyond consolidating partnerships b. Strengthening regional cooperation c. Constructive engagement on global issues d. Public Diplomacy and Cultural Diplomacy e. Passport services

2. Oversees Indians

a. Extending institutional support for harnessing knowledge ,skills and resources of overseas Indians

b. Transforming management of emigration

*****************************************************