PM Address to the Nation on India's 65th Independence Day

Hosting the National Flag in Red Fort on the occasion of India’s 65th Independence Day, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said that those who disagreed with the proposed legislation should not resort to hunger strikes or fast-unto-death.

On Corruption:- He also said that the corruption was a matter of serious concern to all and a big obstacle to emergence of India as a major global economic power. Dr. Singh emphasised that no government had the magic wand to eradicate the menace. Dr. Singh asserted that the government’s commitment to establish a strong institution of Lokpal to deal with corruption at higher levels, Dr. Singh announced that several legislative proposals were in the pipeline to root out bribery from various layers of the society.

On Judicial System:- Dr. Singh insisted that bringing judiciary within the ambit of the Lokpal would go against its independence. However we do need a framework in which the judiciary becomes more accountable. It is with this aim that we have introduced the Judicial Accountability Bill in Parliament which would be passed soon. If our system delivers justice in an effective manner, government officials would think twice before committing a wrong act of greed or under political pressure.
On Anna Hazare and his teams (without mentioning their names):- Dr. Singh said that there are some people who want to create disturbances in the country so that our progress gets stalled. All this can have a negative impact on us. But we will not let this happen. Dr. Singh made it clear that the Parliament alone can now decide the contours of the legislation.

On economy:- Dr. Singh refereed to the slowdown of the world economy and unrest in many Arab countries of the Middle East. Due to the global economy slowdown, some impacts will be on India too which is inevitable and India is prepared to face all the hurdles.
On terrorism:- Dr. Singh said that there could not be any slipup in vigilance in the fight against terror, and it was a long battle to be fought jointly, by the Centre, the State governments and the common man.
On inflation:- Dr. Singh said sometimes the country was confronted with a situation in which the reasons for rising prices lay outside. He shared the concerns over the inflation and listing the efforts taken by the government to rein in prices.
On regulatory bodies:- Dr. Singh said that the Union Government is considering legislation to ‘monitor the work’ of independent regulatory authorities to make them ‘more accountable without compromising their independence’ . (He added that at the moment there was no legislation to scrutinize the functioning of independent regulatory bodies). Dr. Singh, however not name any regulatory body. Some of the authorities include the TRAI, AERA (Airports Economic Regulatory Authority) {Both these are involved in 2G spectrum scam and Air India debacle). The other categories of the authorities to oversee the functioning of the government are set up under the provisions of the Constitution. They include CAG, CVC and Election Commission.