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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh -- who is facing a plethora of problems including price rise, corrupt ministers and feuding allies -- could use some help in steering through the rocky terrains of governance. We had asked you, dear readers, to send in your suggestions about how Dr Singh can save UPA-II. Rediff.com received an overwhelming number of responses from readers. We present some of the best ideas, suggestions and tips to the PM right here:
Name: Marathi Indian
Suggestion: Mr PM, don't keep mum. Speak to the media and other people. Punish the corrupt. Remove people like (Congress leader) Digvijay Singh, who spoil your image.
Name: Prakash Vazirani
Suggestion: It is high time the people of India come out of their homes and on to the streets to force this corrupt and inefficient government out. It is high time the Nehru-Gandhi family is shown the door.
Name: Sudhir Sharma
Suggestion: Actually, Indians need to be saved from Dr Singh's government
Name: Peterson
Suggestion: We need to have a revolution like Tunisia and Egypt. Democracy has given us nothing but poverty.
Politicians are flourishing and the common people are suffering from all angles. People should come out and take part in the protests. As long as democracy exists in India, poverty, scams and corruption will remain.
Name: Kannan Palaniswamy
Suggestion: Dr Singh, it is very simple. Take a white paper and put in your resignation. You should deliver or leave.
Name: Sunil Nanda
Suggestion: One lesson we have learnt from the turmoil in the Arab World is that the public is demanding accountability, they not asking for a change in the government or ministry or departments.
The PM should ensure that the corrupt ministers are sacked, prosecuted and punished. Go after ministers, bureaucrats, bankers and government servants.
People want governance, not government. Follow (Bihar Chief Minister) Nitish Kumar... have the courage to do so.
Name: Satyananda Rao
Suggestion: First, put people like (Finance Minister) Pranab Mukherjee in their place. The ministers should report to the PM and not to Sonia Gandhi. Extra constitutional authorities should not be allowed to fiddle with government functioning.
On issues like Telangana, a firm stand should be taken to tell separatists that no division of Andhra Pradesh will be possible now that the report of Sri Krishna commission is out.
Dr Singh has to assert himself as the PM and take decisions.
Name: Arungopal Agarwal
Suggestion: No one can correct shameless people. In spite of losing their right to rule on moral grounds, these oldies are stuck to their seats.
There is a great need for drastic political reforms; civil war conditions are prevailing already in Naxal-hit areas, Kashmir, Telengana etc.
Name: Abhishek Sharma
Suggestion: We need leaders like Narendra Modi. Modi is truly a leader who is honest and has the vision, determination, decision making capability and strong will power to implement whatever he decides. He is the only leader, all others are looters. He must lead the country.
Name: Shreepad Deshpande
Suggestion: Let the government get dissolved. Our military can run this country better than you.
Name: Ratan Goswami
Suggestion: Dr Singh is a good intellectual, a perfect gentleman but not a good prime minister. The ministers are looting the country under his nose.
Why doesn't he agree to a 2G spectrum probe by the JPC? It raises certain doubts as all files are cleared only after recommendations from the prime minister's office.
Then, the attorney general tells the apex court that the PM was not aware of the charges against the central vigilance commissioner.
My God, what a country we live in! The PM does not check the credentials of such an esteemed position?
This government will kill all autonomous bodies like CAG and CVC.
Name: Kiran Kumar
Suggestion: Just stop corruption, rest of the things will fall into place by themselves. While managing a country the size of India, we are bound to face problems like adverse climate change and fluctuating world markets. But then there will be opportunities like good monsoons and abundance of natural resources. All the government has to do is to tie the bad and good things together, tax the fortunate and give to the unfortunate (not to the lazy).
If earnings are siphoned off to foreign bank accounts of individuals and all the government has to do is manage bad things, they can't do much about it. Then they have to step down.
Stopping corruption, at least to a certain extent, equips the government financially to meet these challenges.
Name: Dr Y N I Anand
City: Mysore
Suggestion: Free the army from the clutches of bureaucrats and ask them to take appropriate action. Do not consider the bureaucrats as the masters of all. They are not.
The mother of all evil is rampant corruption. Set your own house in order before you point fingers at others. Be honest and admit your mistakes. One may think it is politically suicidal but it is so only in the short run. You will reap benefits in the long run.
Give an honest and patient hearing to the Maoists and take necessary action.
Name: P Sen
City: Allahabad
Suggestion: There are two major issues: 1. Inflation, 2. Corruption.
Inflation hits the common man most directly. But it is also true that high food prices are a global reality. India can do little in isolation. However, corporate profit driven capitalist economy is the culprit. We need to look at 'development' from a different perspective in which sustainability becomes a core point.
Corruption can be tackled more easily if there is a will, the lack of which is most painful. Media reports suggest that the PM was aware of the irregularities in Commonwealth Games and 2G dealings. Why did it take the government three years to act in the 2G case? What is being done in the black money case? The common man gets the feeling that the government acts only when it cannot explain away certain issues anymore in the face of relentless media pressure.
What we need is a sense that there is governance. Now, it seems, the government governs only when there is an intervention by the media and the courts. For the future of our nation, good governance must take precedence over everything else, even if that is at the cost of losing power in the short-run.