Manmohan speak

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday acknowledged that his government was being described as the most corrupt ever, adding that graft had become a big issue and had caught the popular imagination. The stunningly frank remark about the image problem his government faces came during Singh’s interaction with a group of editors. “…in the situation that we are faced today, day in day out I think we are described as the most corrupt government”, Singh told his audience. However, he was quick to add that instances of corruption were just aberrations. Corruption, which has been seized upon by the opposition to torment the government and the Congress, took up a huge chunk of the PM’s inaugural remarks at the session. It figured prominently also in the question-answer session that followed, with Singh admitting that the telecom scam and Commonwealth Games had taken a toll on his government’s reputation. “Some events—the telecom scam, the Commonwealth Games-—have caused genuine concern among large classes of middle class opinion that cannot be wished away,” Singh said. However, he cautioned against radical steps which could turn the country into a police state and lead to the return of the inspector raj. Told that there was a perception that he had “allowed things to happen”, the PM suggested he was betrayed by former telecom minister A Raja.
What surprises me is not that there are corrupt civil servants but that despite all the temptations, so many of our civil servants remain honest and lead frugal lives It (graft) has caught the imagination of the people and we will deal with it. Govt is committed to pursuing whatever is feasible to deal with black money, tax evasion and corruption but it is not a one-shot operation
The general proposition that younger people should take over, is the right sentiment. Whenever the party makes up its mind I will be very happy to step down, but so long as I am here I have a job to do
We have some points of tension but nobody wants an election
Govt will reach out to civil society but no group can insist that their views A-to-Z are the last word. We will find a way out on Lokpal and try for a consensus . I have no hesitation in bringing myself under the purview of Lokpal but many of my Cabinet colleagues feel that bringing the institution of prime minister under it will create instability
Interpreting the question as echoing the view that he had failed to stop A Raja from perpetrating the 2G scam, Singh suggested that he was betrayed by the sacked telecom minister. He said as Prime Minister he had to trust his minister when he had promised to abide by rules. “How can I conduct a post-mortem? I am not an expert in telecom matters. As Prime Minister, it is not that I am very knowledgeable about these matters. Or, that I can spend so much of my time, to look after each and every ministry.” Singh also criticized Raja for wrongly claiming that he had the PM’s endorsement. “One observation that my private secretary recorded, that the PM says that there must be transparency—the minister should have said that it was his responsibility-—rather than saying that the Prime Minister has also endorsed it.” When told that the government failed to take notice of newspaper reports about irregularities in the allocation of 2G licences and spectrum, Singh said he could not have gone by newspaper reports alone. “There were people on both sides writing to me. If I go by the newspapers everyday, I would have to refer everything to CBI, and the CBI would sit in judgment. And if I continued in this vein, our public sector would not be able to perform. It would greatly weaken the (entrepreneurial forces) that have unleashed, and willynilly install a police raj”. The interaction was held against the growing perception that at a time when the government is faced with an image deficit on the issue of corruption and other challenges, the PM has not been communicating enough with his constituency. The PM also stepped out to rebut the perception that he had been reduced to alame duck and could be asked to make room for Rahul Gandhi. He hit out at the Comptroller and Auditor General whose reports on 2G and alleged favors to oil firms had embarrassed the government for overstepping its constitutional mandate. “It has never been in the past that the CAG has held a press conference as the present CAG (Vinod Rai) has done. Never in the past has the CAG decided to comment on a policy issue. It should limit the office to the role defined in the Constitution.” He criticized media for creating the perception his government was under siege and for simultaneously playing the accuser, the prosecutor and the judge.