Sonia advocates economic reforms

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Friday strongly advocated economic reforms saying it was essential to improve functioning of public utilities like power and water and underlined the need for implementation of promises made in the party manifesto.

Addressing the party chief ministers' conclave in Chandigarh, she noted that her party was in coalition politics for the first time at the Centre but asserted the achievements of the National Common Minimum Programme were "naturally the fulfillment of our objectives" as the document mostly reflected the Congress manifesto for the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.

Inaugurating first such meet after the party came to power at the Centre, Gandhi spoke about improving governance by the Congress governments, making them accountable and efficient, while spelling out the programmes of the Manmohan Singh government which cover issues like rural development and rural employment, health care, education, midday meal scheme and value added tax.

"Economic reforms do not mean the abdication of the role of government. They mean making government at all levels caring, effective and efficient. They mean making public utilities, particularly in power and water, function better and in a more consumer-friendly manner," Gandhi told the conference of 15 chief ministers and a deputy chief minister, which is being attended by a number of Union ministers including P Chidambaram (finance), Shivraj Patil (home), Pranab Mukherjee (defence) and Mani Shankar Aiyar (petroleum).

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will address the meet on Saturday.

The UPA chairperson asserted that "reforms in governance mean vastly improving the functioning of public institutions, particularly in education and health. All this will require investment and changes in structure and procedures, and political leadership is crucial."