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'Dr Singh should retire from his post and politics'

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: Pavan
City: Beijing
Suggestion: Stop exports for a while and make the supply surplus so that prices start to come down a bit.

Name: R V Ramani
City: Mumbai
Suggestion: It is a pity that such an eminent person like Dr Singh is dancing to the tune of some unscrupulous, two bit politicians who have garnered their vote for reasons other than merit and still continue to get elected. It is impossible to set right the things the common man needs unless the government take stringent action against the corrupt politicians and their chamchas.

Name: Yash
City: New Delhi
Suggestion: According to me, Dr Singh should retire from his post and politics, because there is a certain age for everything and his days have gone.

Name: Prakash Vazirani
City: Mumbai
Suggestion: I would suggest that Dr Manmohan Singh resign on the ground that all the Cabinet colleagues and leaders of the Congress top brass are corrupt and he cannot head such a government, which is against aam aadmi.

Name: Ajmal Khan
City: Madurai
Suggestion: Dear sir, you can bring prices of commodities down by lowering fuel prices. You can instruct the state government to reduce the subsidiary on fuel prices.

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'Government should act tough on hoarders'

Name: R Balasubramanian
City: Bangalore
Suggestion: The main problem is lack of efficient monitoring of the distribution process by concerned ministries and officials, which has given the hoarders an upper hand and the result is an inflated price, though the commodity is available in plenty. Government agencies should act tough on hoarders, irrespective of their party affiliations and the erring officials and minister should be reprimanded.

Name: V S Nair
City: Thane
Suggestion: The aam aadmi is not interested in knowing the action taken by the government to bring down the prices of essential commodities. We are interested in the end result. It is said that the onion price that farmers get from the government is Rs 10/ kg. But at the retail level, we pay Rs 45/kg to Rs 55/ kg. This means that the difference to the tune of Rs 35 is being pocketed by the crooks in the chain.
This needs to be tackled. The government should try and reduce the middlemen in this chain. This is applicable for all the perishable commodities.

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'Dr Singh should be allowed to take decisions on his own'

Name: Chandresh Thakker
City: Mumbai
Suggestion: Dr Singh needs to vacuum the system by taking tough decisions about the ministries which are not working properly. Right decisions need to be taken to control commodity prices. Implement strict tax collections for people who are not paying taxes as I believe that inflation is mainly due to the presence of black money in the market. Try and bring down corruption, mainly in the infrastructure industry as well as in other sectors.

Name: Venkat
City: Bangalore
Suggestion: Make the law stricter, give the police special powers, let there be special fast track courts to punish the guilty. If it has got to do with people's money, then the minimum punishment should be 10 years in prison and lifelong term in Delhi municipality's lowest employee level.

Name: M V Suresh
City: Vadodara
Suggestion: Price rise should cease to be a state subject. When parameters related to growth and inflation are measured at the national level, there is a conflict of interest as tackling price rise is left to the states.
As a temporary measure, an ordinance should be passed, making price rise a central subject for 6 months. Then central government should unleash its machinery on hoarders and other brokers/dalals. The government should devise a machinery to monitor the price rise of essential commodities through an institution.

Name: Prasad
City: Bangalore
Suggestion: If Dr Singh is allowed to take decisions on his own without the UPA chairperson's intervention, I think he will be able to achieve some thing.

Name: Rahul Kaul
City: Delhi
Suggestion: The entire system needs an overhaul. Nothing less

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'Indians only understand DANDA Raj'

Name: Pandurang Palyekar
City: Goa
Suggestion: Dr Singh's governmnt is corrupt. Dr Singh is not personally responsible for it. There is no control over the administration, that's why it (corruption) is happening. He must keep a watch on what is happening in the country. If he can't control the situation, he must resign from the post of PM and sit quietly at home and take rest. Let any able man run the country.

Name: Pavan
City: Beijing
Suggestion: Most of the powers in ministries should be vested with the bureaucrats and not the politicians. Politicians should be the mouth and ear for the ministry and not the decision makers; of course if we can first get rid of corruption.

Name: Rahul Kaul
City: Delhi
Suggestion: Nothing is going to change until systemic changes take place and the DNA of Indians is changed. We only understand DANDA Raj

Name: Anil kher
City: Pune
Suggestion: Dr Singh is a great man and a honest person. But now the time has come for him to realise that in the interest of INDIA, he should first get rid of the influence of Sonia Gandhi. Secondly, he should get rid of corrupt politicians who are in his Cabinet. He should be firm in taking decisions. He must prove now that HE IS NOT A WEAK PRIME MINISTER.

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'Bring back black money'

Name: Praveen Kumar Sachdeva
City: Mumbai
Suggestion: Only solution to the existing problem is to bring back the black money lying in foreign banks to India by hook or crook as early as possible, failing which the position of the ruling party and the government in power at the Centre will be  extremely delicate.

Name: Suresh Subramaniam
City: Chennai
Suggestion: Review every minister's performance every three months, much like a school child's report card. Give him a warning for one term to improve their performance or give him the boot if he doesn't produce results. Accountability will bring results. Throw out all corrupt ministers / MPs as a clean but unstable government is better than a dirty government that lasts its full term. The next three years should be spent on making the people feel that this government should come back again. Work as if the next elections are six months away.

Name: Vidyabhushan Tiwari
City: Mumbai
Suggestion: Future trading on essential commodities such as rice, dal, wheat, edible oil should be suspended/banned to bring down the prices. Future trading benefits only the rich at the expense of the poor and middle class. Future trading is absolutely useless in any ethical business sense.

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'You are an example of both honesty and corruption'

Name: Manivannan
City: Chennai
Suggestion: Dear Dr Singh, we all know you are a honest man. But today, circumstances have made you the head of the most corrupt government. You are an example of both honesty and corruption. My small suggestion for you is, please go for a fresh mandate without any alliance and once again prove what you are capable of.

Name: Madan Bondal
City: Mangalore
Suggestion: 1. Provide cold storage facilities at village levels to stock seasonal produce of daily use which would take care of the issues of wastage and availability throughout the year.
2. Strengthen horticulture departments in each block which could provide valuable inputs to farmers on the spot about the cropping pattern based on local conditions and make available fertilizers without break.
3. Provide good roads from villages to the market place to transport produce and also vehicles at reasonable cost.
4. Encourage farmers to sell their produce direct to customers in towns where a proper place is provided with basic amenities to farmers.
5. The middlemen's grip on the farmers and their produce could be cut off by providing timely and adequate finance to the farmers at low interest rates.
6. Wide publicity should be given for the action plan being initiated for direct farmer-consumer relationship.
7. Crop insurance at reasonable cost for covering crop losses should be introduced.