11 June :After writing to his Council of Ministers, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked officials in the PMO to "think creatively" on the agenda of the government in the first 100 days in office.Advising the officials to improve delivery, he wanted them to be guided by the watchwords of equity, innovation and public accountability.
Singh emphasised the importance to rethink systems of monitoring and evaluation and said there was need to think creatively on the government agenda.The follow-up measures listed to be initiated within the first 100 days of UPA returning to power and the pending reform of regulatory institutions in the area of health and education were discussed, PM’s Media Adviser Deepak Sandhu said in a statement on Thursday.
Singh had recently written to Union ministers overseeing the government’s flagship programmes asking them to seriously address the task of plugging "leakages" in their implementation.PM asks Ministers to address leakages in flagship prog
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked Union ministers overseeing the government’s flagship programmes to seriously address the task of plugging "leakages" in its implementation.
Singh also asked his ministerial colleagues to respect in full the spirit of functional autonomy of public sector undertakings or other autonomous institutions under them and that there should be no action that may lead to the erosion of this autonomy or credibility.
In a letter to his ministers which was officially released on Wednesday, the prime minister said they must give "due consideration" to the views of the opposition and seek to work together for the collective well-being of the people.
Singh said it should be ensured that the flagship programmes conferred appropriate benefit on disadvantaged groups particularly scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, minorities, women and children.
"The task of plugging leakages in the operation of these programmes should be addressed with single-minded devotion."
Referring to the agenda of the government as indicated in the President’s Address, Singh said, " We need to push the frontiers and question outdated practices to bring a critical edge to governance."He said matters that required the views or concurrence of other Ministries or involve unbudgeted financial outlays ought not be made public without "due consultation."
The prime minister also said he can be consulted in case ministers have urgent problems or consider it necessary to make any policy announcements.