May 18,The Prime Minister, has reiterated the need for the creation of a federal agency to deal with the crimes of inter-State ramifications like terrorism, narcotics, human trafficking and white collar crimes. Dr. Manmohan Singh was talking to media persons at the Bagdogra airport on his way to New Delhi, after his two day visit to Bhutan. He said the State Governments are reluctant to cooperate in surrendering their powers. The Prime Minister underlined the need for strengthening the security forces including the intelligence gathering process. Appreciating the role of the intelligence agencies in preventing many disasters in the country, Dr. Singh said one has to take a balanced view of the situation before criticising the establishment for any event or incidence. On inflation, the Prime Minister said it will be moderated in the next few weeks as there has been excellent procurement of food grains both wheat and rice in the country. He said if there will be a normal monsoon, the country will witness a moderation in the price behaviour but one has to be patient. He said the inflation will come down definitely after 15th of September. He said even in a normal year prices do rise seasonally between May and September, so all the measures taken by the government will bear fruit in due course.
Dr. Singh, however, asserted that the government wants to control inflation without hurting the rhythm of growth process which is moving forward at a rate of 8 to 9 per cent in the last four years. He said, the government has adopted a two-fold strategy to increase production to reduce the demand and supply gap and also to liberalise import and discourage exports where necessary so that more supplies become available for the poor sections of our society.
On the nuclear energy, the Prime Minister said that Indo-US nuclear deal will protect the country’s strategic programme and at the same time it will widen the energy options.
Describing his two day visit to the Himalayan Nation as the most successful one, the Prime Minister said India is committed to further strengthening bilateral relations. He said India will help Bhutan in the ICT sector to generate employment opportunities. Dr. Singh said that Bhutan as the closest and friendly neighbour of India shares a special relationship with India with an open border, a visa free regime and a duty free trade. He said during his visit the initiatives have been taken on the road and rail link fronts to improve connectivity. Our correspondent sums up the Prime Minister’s visit. Courtsey : AIR