Sonia: Communal forces hindering development

Narayanpur (Agencies): Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said that India needed to fight communal forces effectively for its economic and social development. A "Economic and social development of the nation should go hand in hand for which we need to fight communal forces strongly," Gandhi said here at a programme in Malda district where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was also present. "We are a secular nation and this is our main strength and capital. The Congress party is fully prepared to protect the secular fabric of the country," Gandhi said. A Stating that the UPA government had adopted a slew of measures for minorities and backward classes and to protect the dignity of women, she said programmes such as the MNREGA, JNNURM, Bharat Nirmaan, and providing social security for unorganised sector had also been taken up. She said that the government would soon pass a legislation for protecting of women against crimes. A Gandhi, who was speaking after laying the foundation stone for Ghani Khan Choudhury Institute of Engineering and Technology here in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said the UPA government had taken various steps for the cause of women and establishing their rights.