UPA-II to use Prez speech as cornerstone for policy matters

Sans the Left parties, UPA in its second avatar has decided that there is no need to enunciate a revamped Common Minimum Programme (CMP) to reflect the aspirations of its new allies and lay down its targets for this term.

Instead, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Cabinet colleagues will use President Pratibha Devisingh Patil?s address to Parliament in June this year as the cornerstone for their policy decisions.

?The UPA government?s agenda is comprehensively covered in the President?s Address to the joint session of Parliament on June 4,? the Prime Minister?s Office (PMO) has stated on its website (www.pmindia.nic.in). Officials in the PMO confirmed that the presidential address to the two Houses would be used as a reference point for the UPA in its second innings.

?The National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) reflected the philosophy of the UPA when it included the Left parties. Now with the new UPA government not having any Left members, the NCMP loses its significance as the President?s speech should be taken as the reference point, at least for the medium term,? an official said.

Patil in her address to Parliament had announced the 100-day agenda of the UPA government, listing out its 25 top priorities. But she set a deadline of three years for some of those priorities ?like training Panchayat Raj functionaries to administer flagship development programmes or enabling e-governance at the Panchayat level through Bharat Nirman Common Service Centres .

She had expressed UPA?s commitment to bring out a road map soon in areas like judicial reforms and disinvestment in public sector enterprises. New targets would be set for rural electrification, irrigation and road connectivity, she had promised. Put together, these could have been taken as an indication that the UPA may come out with a detailed statement on its reform agenda, like it had done in its previous term in the form of the NCMP.

But since Patil?s speech also broadly spelt out the focus areas of the UPA in its five-year term, the government feels there is no need to elaborate further.

As for specific road maps and blueprints, these can be brought out independently by the line ministries.

?Most goals set in the NCMP by UPA-I have been achieved, and it is a natural process for every new government to review the past targets and set new ones. This has been done in the President?s speech,? the official explained.

Patil?s speech said UPA-II would focus on sprucing up internal security, stepping up of economic growth in agriculture, manufacturing and services, governance reform and infrastructure upgrade.

Striving to stick to prudent fiscal management and ensure energy security, the UPA also intends to consolidate existing programmes for employment, education, health, rural infrastructure and urban renewal, while launching new programmes for food security and skill development.