PM says hard decisions taken in long-term interests

MUMBAI, OCT 13: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who has promised a second look at the recent hike in petro product prices, today said...

MUMBAI, OCT 13: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who has promised a second look at the recent hike in petro product prices, today said the Government has to take hard decisions in the long-term interests of the nation but gave no indication on what it proposed to do on the roll back demand.

quot;The path of reforms is never easy or straight. Sometimes the Government has to take hard decisions in the long-term interests of the nation. For example, the unprecedented increase in global oil prices has forced us to pass on some burden to the consumers,quot; he said in a statement on the completion of one-year of his Government.

Vajpayee, who is convalescing at the Breach Candy hospital after his knee joint surgery, had staved off a crisis before he went for surgery promising Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee a second look at the recent increase in prices of petroleum products. She had resigned from the Government and had threatened to pull out of the NDA in the absence of a roll back.

Maintaining that economic challenges have to be faced collectively, the Prime Minister said quot;the haves must bear a greater share of the burden than the have-nots in the transition periodquot;.

Summing up the past one year in office, Vajpayee said the country8217;s democracy was slowly growing in maturity to prove that a coalition government at the Centre could be stable and successful and that his governance had been free of corruption scandals.

Vajpayee said quot;our governance has been free of corruption scandals, and we are determined to further strengthen standards of transparency in Government and probity in public lifequot;.

The situation in Jammu and Kashmir was improving steadily, he said, voicing confidence that it would improve further in the coming months.

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Simultaneously, the circle of international support for India8217;s stand on Kashmir was expanding rapidly, he said, asserting that quot;our fight against terrorism continues and shall continue till the terrorists8217; guns falls silentquot;.

On the economic front, the Prime Minister said the economy was growing steadily and the Government was now removing the hurdles for its faster growth so that it could achieve the ambitious target of doubling the per capita income by the end of the decade.

Observing that India8217;s greatest asset is its unity in diversity, he asked the people to strengthen unity by creating greater tolerance and respect for linguistic, ethnic, regional and religious diversity.

The people voted for stability and good governance and their mandate was an expression of their collective desire to make India a prosperous and proud nation in the 21st century, he said, adding in the past twelve months, the government had endeavoured to fulfil their aspirations.