By IANS,
New Delhi : Detailing the broad sweep of social sector programmes initiated in the last five years, President Pratibha Patil Thursday said the United Progressive Alliance government has acted on nearly all the commitments made to the people through the national common minimum programme (NCMP).
“People measure government not on the basis of what it says but on the basis of what it does. In a democracy, government is measured on a simple maxim – aam admi ko kya mila (what has the common man got?” Patil said, addressing the joint session of parliament here, the last before the general elections.
“Today, after close to five years in office, my government believes that it has acted on nearly all the commitments made to the people through the National Common Minimum Programme.”
Patil referred to the Right to Information by which the government had been held accountable to citizens for governance, the Scheduled Tribes and Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act where historical injustice to tribes and traditional forest dwellers was corrected to confer land rights and the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act which ensured reservation to students of Other Backward Classes in educational institutions.
“The commitment to inclusive development articulated in the NCMP has been translated into laws, policies and programmes by my government. A right to work for people in our rural areas was guaranteed through the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGPA). The Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008, will facilitate provision of social security to 430 million unorganised workers.”
Patil delved in detail over the NREGPA, which now covers the whole country and made it a point to mention that this was the first such intervention anywhere in the world where a country guaranteed employment for a specified number of days to any category of citizens.
“In 2007-08, nearly 34 million rural households were provided employment under this programme. Out of those provided work, 55 percent belonged to Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes and 49 percent were women.
“This programme is keenly watched all over the world as an Indian innovation in combining the twin objectives of providing for consumption expenditure of the poor as well as improving rural productivity and income.”
Patil also maintained that results of the programme in the last three years showed increased agricultural productivity, reduced migration and increase in wage rates for agricultural employment across the country.