UPA likely to bring 'Report to the People' on 1st anniversary

Plans are afoot to bring out a 'Report to the People' on the first anniversary of the United Progressive Alliance government's second term on May 22. The document is expected to be a progress report telling the people that it is a 'government that works'.

T K A Nair, Principal Secretary to the prime minister, has already shot off letters to various ministries and departments seeking information on their achievements which can find a place in the report. The document is likely to chronicle among other things the Women's Reservation Bill on which Congress president Sonia Gandhi took special interest in its passage in the Rajya Sabha. The government wants to bring the measure to the Lok Sabha in the second part of the budget session beginning on April 15.

The Right to Education (RTE) Act that would directly benefit at least one crore children would be another high point in the report. The importance attached to the RTE could be gauged from the fact that the prime minister made an address to the nation on this legislation. The National Advisory Council (NAC) under the leadership of Gandhi, which has been revived after a gap of four years, is likely to be one of the major highlights in the report.The prime minister has hailed the development, saying it would bring a "new dimension" to the working of the government. The moves for ensuring food security through the Food Security Bill is also expected to figure prominently in the report.

On the foreign front, the government is expected to refer to the initiative on having foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan. It will tell the people that it has cemented ties with almost all its neighbours and has started a new relationship with Saudi Arabia. On the economic front, the report is expected to highlight how the government weathered the global financial crisis and the depression and managed to keep an impressive growth rate against the backdrop of the slump around.

The issue of price rise could be a delicate subject for the government as the prices of essential commodities have risen sharply mainly due to inflation. The government can be expected to highlight the steps taken to bring down the prices and make available the foodgrains at cheaper rates to the poor.

Since 2004, when Congress-led UPA assumed power after ousting the BJP-led NDA, the government has been bringing out annual reports on its performance. The report of the UPA-II is expected to be a different affair given the fact that the first UPA's programmes were based on a National Common Minimum Programme after the then outside supporters -- Left parties -- insisted on such a document for their support.

This time the Left parties are no longer supporters of the government after they parted ways less than two years ago on the issue of Indo-US Civil Nuclear deal. Besides the absence of NCMP, the UPA-II does not have a Coordination Committee like it had in the UPA-I. This time, the UPA coalition has Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Nationalist Congress Party and National Conference as its prominent partners and all these parties had fought the elections under their manifestos.

When the UPA-II came to power, there was talk by some allies for a Common Minimum Programme but nothing came out of it.