Inclusive growth is UPA hallmark: PM

Echoing similar sentiments,UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi said the governments focus was to strengthen secular ethos,address need of the weaker sections and pay special attention to farmers and workers.

Saying that there was much to be proud of,Sonia said the Congress and the coalition should not get deterred or distracted by Opposition criticism. She underscored the need to tackle corruption asserting that they would have to be uncompromising in our approach to combat it.

Commenting on the economy,Singh conceded that growth had not been fast enough but attributed them to external factors.

The GDP has actually declined in the Eurozone. It grew very slowly in Japan and the United States. It slowed down in China and also other developing countries, he said. However,he said,the slowdown was temporary and a turnaround was already happening.

Inflation is coming under control. The fiscal deficit is being brought under control. We are confident that growth in 2013-14 will be better than 2012-13 and could exceed 6 per cent, he said. He exuded confidence in reaching 4 per cent target in agricultural sector.

Faster agricultural growth,combined with government programmes such as MGNREGA,and the expanded pace of investment in rural infrastructure have improved real wages of agricultural labour, he said.