The Hindu : Govt. lacks clarity on Pak. policy, says Sonia

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 31, 2003

Front Page

Front Page

Govt. lacks clarity on Pak. policy, says Sonia

By Javed M. Ansari

Photo: Nissar Ahmad

The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, at the fifth conference of the party's Chief Ministers in Srinagar on Friday.

SRINAGAR MAY 30. The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, today virtually laid out the electoral blueprint for the party, by once again repositioning it on the side of the poor and the havenots. In the inaugural address at the fifth Congress Chief Ministers conclave, on the banks of the picturesque Dal Lake, Ms. Gandhi asked the State leaders to work out aggressive employment schemes and ensure that their Governments and the party units worked in unison.

The Congress Governments all over the country would help Jammu and Kashmir. "Our presence here reciprocates in a small measure the faith the people of Jammu and Kashmir have reposed in the democratic and reflects how deeply we feel their pain and suffering," she said.

The Congress was determined to be a catalyst of change in the State, she said and promised on behalf of the Congress-ruled States to ensure that the quotas earmarked for Kashmiri students in the Congress-ruled States would be "fulfilled in everyway".

She also complimented the alliance in the State and promised to do her bit to ensure that it continued to work smoothly. Though her party had fundamental differences with the BJP, it was prepared to work with the Central Government too.

Ms. Gandhi, however, criticised the Centre for its "lack of clarity and consistency" on the issue of Indo-Pak. dialogue, "its pathetic track record in employment generation" and its failure to safeguard secularism. On the issue of dialogue with Pakistan, she said the recent thaw in relations justified the Congress position. The party believed that the door must be kept open for a dialogue at all times and expressed the need for cooperation, collaboration and contacts at all levels.

Ms. Gandhi expressed alarm over the falling rate of employment and made it clear that henceforth her party would not be found wanting in its duty of confronting the Centre on issues. She indicted the Centre's handling of its ideological fellow travellers such as the VHP and the Bajrang Dal and urged her Chief Ministers to adopt a strong and no-nonsense approach towards trouble-makers. "The law of the land has to be enforced strictly and without fear," she said. The coming Assembly elections were important and the Congress Governments and organisation should work in close coordination. She sought to showcase the Congress Governments as models of good governance and expressed the hope that the people would again repose their confidence in the Congress in the four States ruled by it.

The Congress, she said, was on the side of the economically deprived, and repeated the slogan "Congress ka haath garibon ke saath". "It is not just a slogan it is our philosophy of governance." The immediate priority would be to strengthen the foundations of the agriculture sector, accelerating the creation of productive employment opportunities, both in the organised and unorganised sectors, and by providing protective legislation for workers in the unorganised sector.

Her party would revive the investment momentum, and launch massive food-for-work programmes besides starting a national employment guarantee scheme.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

Stories in this Section

Militant groups in PoK asked to 'close camps'

U.P. Opposition urges dismissal of Mayati Govt.

Govt. lacks clarity on Pak. policy, says Sonia

Putin's big show gets underway

Pak. agrees to resume bus service

LTTE rejects peace offer