By IANS,
New Delhi : United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi Monday said the development of the country was dependent on the prosperity of the common man and the government was keen on fulfilling expectations of the people.
“When the common man (aam aadmi) becomes prosperous, the country will automatically progress,” Sonia Gandhi said in her speech at the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA) conference here.
The conference, held to display the success of the UPA government’s flagship rural employment scheme, was attended by 7,000 NREGA activists and officials implementing the scheme from across the country.
Gandhi spoke of the involvement of the NGOs and other sections of society which helped make the scheme successful.
She emphasised the need to fulfill the expectations of the people. “People have expectations from us and we will have to live up to their expectations,” she said at the meeting.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee termed the scheme a “path breaking legislation that has redefined the regime of rights in the country”.
Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh highlighted the NREGA as a celebration of the aam-aadmi’s capacity to aspire and plan his own future and the government’s policy and commitment to the cause of poverty alleviation.
“The act has brought multifold benefits to the poor and with the strengthening of the implementation mechanisms and learning from the past three years it will be an instrument of change in years to come,” Singh said.