'We Can Achieve A Growth Rate Of 8 to 9 Per Cent'

I join all other Members of this august House in conveying our very sincerethanks to the RespectedRashtrapatiji for a very thought-provoking Address. I would also like totake this opportunity to thank the Leader of the Opposition, Shri L. K. Advani,other senior Leaders including Shri Mulayam Singh Yadav, Shri Lalu Prasad andmany other distinguished personalities who have spoken on the Address of theHon. President.

I sense an underlying sense of unity is what our Republic is about. What arethe tasks that lie ahead and how we should go about in achieving thoseobjectives? Shri Advani had said that we should all work to make the 21stCentury India’s Century. This is an idea that I have been stating for quitesome time. I said as early as 1991 quoting Victor Hugo : "That no power onearth can stop an idea whose time has come" and I sincerely believe that theemergence of India as a major power house of the global economy and the globalpolity happens to be one such idea whose time has come. It is our privilege tocontribute to the realisation of this cherished goal of our country.

The tone of speeches on all sides has been highly constructive, and I thinkthis augurs well for our country starting with the unanimous election of Hon.Speaker followed by unanimous election of Hon. Deputy Speaker. We have made anew beginning. It is my hope and prayer that we maintain that spirit ofbipartisanship when it comes to dealing with the large number of Nationalproblems and concerns, which we face as a country.

The conduct of free and fair elections and the subsequent formation of the governmentare indeed a triumph for Indian democracy. We can take legitimate pride in ourachievements. There were many people who believed that Parliamentary democracycannot succeed in a country as poor as India, and that Parliamentary democracycannot succeed in a country where the voters are illiterate to such an extent asis the case with our country. We have seen people writing about it. I recallthat way back in the 1960s a correspondent of the New York Times Selig S.Harrison, who was based in India, went back and wrote a book, namely, "India :The Most Dangerous Decades", predicting the demise of the Indian Union by theend of the 1970s.

We have proved all these prophets of doom and gloom wrong, and our Republichas shown the resilience to march ahead.

I sincerely believe that social and economic transformation of India in theframework of a democratic polity, an open society committed to the rule of law,committed to respect for all fundamental human rights, is a development in worldhistory which, if it succeeds, will have profound consequences for the processesof development in all countries of the third world.

People marvel at a country of a billion people characterized by the vastdiversity of languages spoken, characterized by the diversity of religiousbeliefs and caste tensions, yet moving forward together. This is something whichhas earned our country deep admiration. At least, that is what I have sensed inmy five years as Prime Minister as I travelled to various parts of the world.

It is our privilege and it is our bounden duty to strengthen the democraticfoundations of our magnificent Republic.

There are tensions in the system, and while we congratulate ourselves, wemust not lose sight of some manifest weaknesses – the growing use of moneypower in elections, muscle power. I think these are developments which need tobe tackled, if we have to maintain the health of our democratic polity.

Also, if we have to succeed, it is necessary for us to take a firm pledgethat we will not encourage groups and individuals who wish to divide our countryon the basis of religion or caste.

We should deal firmly with people who believe violence is the only way toachieve their objectives. I believe we must all be solemnly committed toensuring that social and economic development, which is a must for a poorcountry, must benefit all sections of society, all States of the Union, allcommunities and all persons.

I heard, Laluji refer to the special problems of Bihar. I assure him and Iassure the Hon. Members that the backward regions of our country, those whichhave been left behind in the race for development, will claim our priorityattention as we deal with the challenges of development.

There is one thing more that I wish to say. Democracy is a beautiful tree,but all modern democracies, under the pressure of competitive politics, tend toadopt a short-term perspective; very often, longer term concern and issues donot get the attention that they deserve. We must have this long-term vision, ifIndia is to realize its development objectives. I sincerely hope that we willhave that vision, that will and the courage to address some of these longer termconcerns as a befitting tribute to the founding fathers of our Republic who gaveus the magnificent Constitution of India.

The mandate that our government has received, and we accept it in allhumility, leaves no scope for bragging about. We recognise that this mandatecasts a heavy responsibility on all of us to give our country a strong,purposeful government, a stable government, a government committed to thepursuit of an inclusive development process. As the President herself hasacknowledged in her gracious Address, this is an agenda which will keep us allbusy every day of the next five years. The mandate, therefore, is a mandate forstability, of change with continuity, commitment to inclusive growth, equitabledevelopment and commitment to the preservation and protection of a secular andplural India.

We will consolidate our efforts on each of these fronts and the President’sspeech has outlined the direction we intend to pursue. We will furtherstrengthen our flagship programmes for employment, education, rural andagricultural development, health, and improve the delivery of public servicesthrough greater transparency and accountability. We are aware that though muchground has been covered, a lot more remains to be done. We will spare no effortin accelerating the speed of our work.

In this gigantic task I recognise that no development agenda can succeed ifthe Centre and the States, and now the third tier of Panchayati Rajinstitutions, do not work in a spirit of collaboration, in a spirit of harmony.you have my assurance that in dealing with States, in dealing with PanchayatiRaj institutions, we will operate strictly on the basis of objectivity. Nodiscrimination will be done against any State which may not be governed byparties which are in power in Delhi. This is a commitment I give. I call uponall Chief Ministers to work together in the National Development Council toearnestly implement the vast development and inclusive development agenda thatthe President has placed before our people.

I should say a few words about the strategies and programmes that Presidentin her speech has referred to. What is our fundamental task as a government? Ihave always believed and here I draw inspiration from the founding fathers ofour Republic Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlalji, Indiraji, Rajivji who have alwaysemphasised that our freedom will be incomplete so long as there is mass povertyin our country.

It was the dream of the father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi to wipe outtears from the eyes of each and every individual in our country. That is anambition which we may not be able to fulfil but that is the inspiration whichshould and which will guide our government in its quest for giving our people alife of dignity and self-respect.

Development is meaningless if our people suffer from ill-health, if ourpeople are illiterate, if environment protection measures are not in place, ifthe degradation of land and water resources of our country and the riverresources of our country goes unchecked. Therefore, we commit ourselves to thisinclusive vision for development where the fruits of development would beequitably shared, where all individuals in our magnificent Republic would get anequal chance to fulfil their ambitions. It is not easy but I am convinced thateducation, health and environment protection are the means through which we canhelp our people to improve the quality of their living. But all this requiresresources and money does not grow on trees. If we have to invest in our flagshipprogrammes, then we need a lot more resources and an expanding pool ofresources. Fortunately, in the last five years, our economy managed to grow atthe rate of 8.6 per cent. That benefited our revenues enormously. We were ableto expand the resource flows for agriculture, for rural development, foreducation, for health and for environment protection.

More recently, particularly in the last one year, because of theinternational slow down our economy has been affected. Our growth rate which wasabout 9 per cent in the previous four years has declined to about 7 per cent. Welive in an increasingly inter-dependent world economy and I cannot promise youthat we will not be affected by global events. But I am convinced that since oursavings rate is as high as 35 per cent, given the collective will, if all of uswork together, we can achieve a growth rate of 8 to 9 per cent even if the worldeconomy does not do well. This shows we will maintain, at least, 7 per centgrowth rate. In the short run, we cannot do better but this is not good enough.Therefore, the ambition that our government has is that notwithstandingdevelopments in the global economy, our country must have the resilience to somanage its affairs that it grows at the annual rate of 8 to 9 per cent. I amconvinced this can be done with the cooperation of all sections of this augustHouse. That will be the direction in which we will be moving.

I recognise that our fiscal system is under strain. The fiscal deficit hasincreased but I do believe that in the short run, even then we havemanoeuvrability to spend more resource on our flagship programmes. I sincerelybelieve that Hon. Finance Minister, when he presents his Budget, will unfold thegovernment’s strategy in this regard.

But as I said, we cannot spend our way into prosperity. In the presentsituation there is considerable scope to increase public expenditure,particularly on infrastructure projects and that would not lead to inflation,that would only add to our development growth potential and I reckon that is theright way to deal with international slow down that has affected many countriesin the world.

The world economy is inter-linked with the management of a vast country likeIndia. There are international factors which affect us. There are alsodevelopments in security matters which also can derail the development process.If terrorism is uncontrolled, if Left Wing extremism continues to flourish inimportant parts of our country which have tremendous natural resources ofminerals and other precious things, that will certainly affect the climate forinvestment. Therefore, as a government we are committed to doing all that is inour power to ensure that terrorist elements are brought under control. That iswhy the Hon. President talked about `Zero Tolerance’ from terrorism. In thesame way, in dealing with Left Wing extremism we have to convince our misguidedyouth that violence of the gun is no way of solving any problems and that ourdemocratic polity gives them the scope through the ballot to express theirconcerns and we have seen in the past that rebels of yesterday have ended up asbeing rulers. That is the beauty of our Republic; the beauty of our democraticpolity. So, we have to operate on two fronts in dealing with these extremistelements. We cannot allow violence to be used as an instrument of gettingresults. At the same time we recognise that there is a climate in which violenceflourishes and it should be our objective to ensure that people are not carriedaway by economic and social discontent to join the ranks of the affected people.That is why walking on two legs and a firm resolve to see that law and order ismaintained and simultaneously a firm commitment to ensure that the gains ofdevelopment do reach the disadvantaged sections of our society, particularlythose living in the tribal areas as required.

I am conscious of the fact that the tribal population in our country has notgot a fair deal. The way we administer the tribal areas; the way we sendofficers who are disinterested to work in these difficult tribal areas, the flowof resources is not properly monitored and there is no proper guidance in thespending of resources. I think, the whole development strategy for tribal areasin Central India at least requires a fresh look.

I promise that our government will do all that is possible to bring thetribal communities of our country into the national mainstream. We have takensome steps in the last five years. The Scheduled Tribes and Other TraditionalForest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, which confers rights onforest dwellers, is a step in that direction. But I do recognise much more needsto be done on the economic and social fronts to contain the discontentment inthe tribal areas which often leads to naxalism or left-wing extremism.

In his speech, the hon. Leader of the Opposition, Shri L.K. Advani, mentionedthat the Centre has been blamed for certain lapses by the Commission of Inquiryset up by the Maharashtra government in connection with the terrorist attack inMumbai on November 26. As Members of Parliament are aware, the government ofMaharashtra had set up a two-member Commission of Inquiry to inquire into theevents of that day and the manner in which the State government had responded tothe attack. I understand that the Commission of Inquiry has submitted its Reportto the State government. The State government would, no doubt, be tabling theReport in the Maharashtra Legislature, together possibly with an Action TakenReport. It is not possible, therefore, to comment at this stage on the contentsof the Report of the Commission of Inquiry before the Report is formally tabledon the floor of the State Legislature. I shall, therefore, refrain fromcommenting on the inferences drawn by the Hon. Leader of the Opposition about aReport that is yet to be placed on the floor of the State Assembly.

I would, however, like to inform the House about the several steps that havebeen taken since November 2008 to further tighten the vigil against futureterrorist attacks of this nature. As Members are aware, the perpetrators of theNovember 26 attack came by sea. We were all aware of our vulnerability to suchattacks from this quarter and had taken already a number of steps, but obviouslythese were inadequate. A massive effort has hence been taken to streamline ourmaritime security which included the setting up of a Maritime Command under theCoast Guard with overall responsibility vested with our Navy.

We have increased the number of Marine Police Stations to supplement theefforts of the Coast Guard and the Navy. There have been several other stepsthat have been taken. But I shall enumerate only a few. Improvements inintelligence sharing is one. The Multi Agency Centre has been fully energisedand Subsidiary Multi Agency Centres constituted in more States. The process willbe completed shortly. The Net-Centric Information Command structure is being putin place to achieve online transfer of all actionable intelligence in astreamlined manner. Generation of actionable intelligence has simultaneouslybeen given priority and measures put in place for this purpose. Technicalinnovation and technical support to intelligence production has been given thehighest priority. Steps have also been taken to improve the quality ofintelligence analysis. Investigation into serious terrorist offences will, fromnow on, be the responsibility of the newly-constituted National InvestigationAgency.

Additional legal measures taken include - apart from the new NIA Act -significant amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The HomeMinister is in constant dialogue with Chief Ministers of States keeping theminformed of the specific aspects of the two new pieces of legislation.

Following the terrorist attacks in Mumbai on 26th November, 2008, theimperative necessity to have dedicated counter terrorist forces has been furtherreinforced. The National Security Guard is the principal counter terrorist forcein the country. A major effort has been made to improve its capability,improving better mobility and state-of-the-art equipment. At least, four new NSGhubs have been set up in different parts of the country. In addition, certainother dedicated counter terrorist forces are sought to be created.

It goes without saying that both the challenges of the troubled times that welive in terms of security of our nation and the unique opportunities within ourreach for the well being of our people, enjoin us to work together for commongoals. I am grateful to the hon. leaders of the Opposition who offered theirsupport on both these counts. I consider it the duty of my government to buildfurther unity of purpose. I have always felt that our differences will melt awaywhen we consider the overwhelming nature of the challenge that our countryfaces.

I would like to say a few words about our relations with our neighbours. Weare living in a neighbourhood of great turbulence. I have believed India cannotrealize its ambitions unless there is peace and prosperity in South Asia as awhole and if our neighbourhood is suffering from instability, turbulence thathas direct bearing on our own evolution as a democratic polity committed tosustained growth and development. I have, therefore, a vision for a transformedSouth Asia where, with the cooperation of all our neighbours, we move frompoverty to prosperity, from ignorance to a knowledge society and from insecurityto lasting peace. What is at stake is the future of one-and-a-half billionpeople living in South Asia. I sincerely believe it is in our vital interesttherefore to try again to make peace with Pakistan. I recognise, it takes twohands to clap. There are some disturbing trends, but I do hope that the governmentof Pakistan will create an atmosphere in which we can realize this vision. Iexpect the government of Pakistan to take strong, effective and sustained actionto prevent the use of their territory for the commission of acts of terrorism inIndia, or against Indian interests, and use every means at their disposal tobring to justice those who have committed these crimes in the past, includingthe attack on Mumbai. I believe that such actions will be welcomed by the peopleof both countries.

If the leaders of Pakistan have the courage, the determination and thestatesmanship to take this road to peace, I wish to assure them that we willmeet them more than half way.