Manmohan speech from Red Fort

Better ties only after Pak stops terror: PM.

• Law dealing with offences against women has been strengthened
• Common man has been given new rights
• Last 9 years have been good for communal harmony
• Food Security Bill will benefit 75 per cent of our rural population

Venkat Parsa

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday signalled to Pakistan that better ties between the two countries is possible only after it stops anti-India activities from its soil. The Prime Minister referred to the recent dastardly attack by Pakistan on the Army Jawans on the Line of Control (LoC) and assured the nation that the Government will take all possible steps to prevent such incidents in the future.

Addressing the nation from the Red Fort on the occasion of the 66th Independence Day, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, “We always strive for friendship with our neighbouring countries. However, for relations with Pakistan to improve, it is essential that they prevent the use of their territory and territory under their control for any anti-India activities.”

In what could be his last speech as Prime Minister on Independence Day ahead of the General Election in 2014, he virtually listed the achievements of his ten-year tenure in office. “We have journeyed a large distance in the last decade. But much remains to be done. The process of change that we have initiated will be continued in the coming time,” he said. For ensuring better safety and security for women, he said the law dealing with offences against women has been strengthened.

The Prime Minister said, “I believe that the last decade has also been a decade of major changes in the history of our nation. In no other decade has our economic development increased much as in this decade. Democratic forces have been strengthened and many sections of our society have joined the mainstream of development for the first time. The common man has been given new rights which have led to his social and economic empowerment.”

There has been improvement in the area of national security also. Despite some worrisome communal incidents in 2012 and this year, the last 9 years have been good for communal harmony. There has been a reduction in terrorist and Naxal violence, too. However, the area of national security calls for constant vigil. “We have not been successful in preventing Naxal attacks that happen from time to time. The Naxal violence in Chhattisgarh on May 25 was a frontal attack on our democracy,” he said.

The Prime Minister said recently Government issued an Ordinance on Food Security. The Food Security Bill is now before Parliament and he hoped it will be passed shortly. This law will benefit 75 per cent of our rural population and half of the urban population. Under the law, about 81 crore Indians would be entitled to receive rice at Rs 3 per kg, wheat at Rs 2 per kg and coarse grains at Re 1 per kg. This is the largest effort of its kind in the whole world, he said.
Measuring poverty is a difficult task. But whatever definition is adopted, it cannot be denied that the pace of reduction in poverty has increased after 2004, he said. Many States which had been considered backward for a long time, with some of them being called Bimaru, are now progressing rapidly.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asserted that there can be no place for narrow and sectarian ideologies in a modern, progressive and secular country. Such ideologies divide society and weaken democracy. “We should prevent them from growing. We need to strengthen those traditions of our country which teach us to promote tolerance and respect for thought processes different from ours. I would appeal to all political parties, all sections of our society and the public at large to work in this direction,” he said.

At the outset, he said it is certainly a day of joy but there is pain in the hearts over the devastation in Uttarakhand about two months back. He assured that the Government is working with all the resources at its command to rehabilitate those whose houses have been destroyed and rebuild damaged infrastructure.

The Prime Minister expressed deep pain at the loss of the submarine, INS Sindurakshak, in an accident on Wednesday. Eighteen brave sailors are feared to have lost their lives. The accident, he said, is all the more painful because the Navy had recently achieved two major successes in the form of its first nuclear submarine, INS Arihant and the aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant.

Since Independence in 1947 under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, he said India steadily developed. In the decade beginning 1950, India took its first steps as a democratic republic under the leadership of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, when institutions like Atomic Energy Commission, Planning Commission and Election Commission, besides new industries and factories, new irrigation projects and new universities were set up.

Indira Gandhi boosted confidence of the nation. During this period, the first satellite in space was launched. The Green Revolution enabled India to be self-sufficient in foodgrains for the first time. Rajiv Gandhi set into motion the process of technological and economic modernization. In 1991, P V Narasimha Rao successfully negotiated a major economic crisis and embraced reforms for strengthening our economy. These reforms were opposed by many political parties at that time. But the reforms were in national interest and were therefore continued by all governments that came to power subsequently. Since then, the reform process has continually moved forward.