Onboard PM`s Special Aircraft: Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday kept the suspense alive on the
the much-awaited reshuffle of the Union Cabinet.
"When I go back home I will apply my mind," Singh told
reporters when asked about the next Cabinet re-shuffle.
He was interacting with journalists while returning from
a tour of Ethiopia and Tanzania.
When pressed further, the Prime Minister said he would
not like to discuss matters like Cabinet reshuffle at a press
conference.
"As far as Cabinet reshuffle is concerned, I don`t like
to discuss this matter in a press conference," he said.
After a minor re-shuffle of the Union Cabinet in January,
the Prime Minister had said he would carry out a "more
expansive exercise" after the Budget Session of Parliament.
In the January reshuffle, Singh did not drop any of the
ministers but changed portfolios of several of them in order
to give a fresh look to his government facing a series of
scams.
‘Bengal, Kerala results telling manifestation’
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the election results of
West Bengal and Kerala were a "telling manifestation" that
Left parties have to learn "important lessons" about the
functioning of the country`s polity.
"Well, I am not an expert on Left politics. People of
Kerala and West Bengal have spoken and that?s a telling
manifestation that left politics has also to learn important
lessons about the functioning of our polity," Singh told
reporters on his return from Africa after a six-day visit.
His comments came when asked about the election
results of Kerala and West Bengal, which the Left parties
lost. In Bengal, Left was ousted from power after 34 years.
‘Govt is sincere in curbing corruption’
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the Government is sincere
in its efforts to curb corruption and admitted that there have
been some "aberrations".
He said the Government will support new ideas that
will help clean Indian politics of the scourge of corruption.
"Corruption is something that concerns all citizens
and I share that concern. There have been aberrations that
have been brought up. We are very sincere in our desire to
curb corruption," Singh told reporters while returning home
from a 6-day trip to Ethiopia and Tanzania.
He was responding to a question on the impact of
recent arrests in 2G Spectrum and Commonwealth Games scams.
"We are open to all new ideas, whatever will help to
clean Indian politics of the scourge of corruption, will have
full support of our government," he said.
To a question on coalition politics compulsions coming
in the way of good governance, he said the Government`s basic
agenda remains to accelerate the tempo of economic growth, to
ensure that the country grows at the rate of about 9 to 10 per
cent per annum, and also in the process, to ensure that the
growth benefits all sections of the society.
"This is our commitment to empower our youth, to give
them employable skills whereby they can gain productively job
opportunities and increase investment in education, increase
investment in health, increase investment in rural development
and agricultural development - these are the key priorities of
our government. They have not changed," he said.
PTI
