Letter to Congress Workers

Dear friends,

This month the UPA government has completed one year in office. The country has once again proved that our democracy is mature and our electorate discerning. This month we have concluded our budget session and ensured that the promises we made to the people were at the forefront of all legislations. The opposition NDA, by once again boycotting Parliament has shown that it has no respect for the country's Parliamentary democracy. Instead of raising issues of relevance inside Parliament, and that too, during the immensely important annual Budget Session, they have once again wasted the tax-payers' money and reneged on their role as a committed Opposition.

The UPA government came to power with the aim of protecting and promoting social harmony and of ensuring that the fruits of economic growth percolate down to the common man. We have proved our commitment to these goals by ushering in legislation and programmes designed to address the problems of poverty, illiteracy and gender discrimination. More importantly, we have sought to redress the neglect of our rural and agricultural sector through greater budgetary attention and resource allocation. The budget passed during this Parliamentary session has taken steps in the right direction and pledged resources to those areas outlined in the Common Minimum Programme. Chief amongst these has been an emphasis on primary education in rural areas. The government's Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is meant to cover each and every child in the country. At the same time, we must also begin a concerted fight against the evil of child labour and child marriages. Although both are illegal in our country, yet millions of children are deprived of their childhood because of poverty. This is a blot on our country that otherwise boasts of world class industry and science. It is a fight that each and every citizen of the country must jointly carry out. Let us, especially, all Congress members pledge that we will not employ and exploit children. As Nehru ji said, our children are our future and unless we can ensure their well-being, the nation will have no future.

The emphasis the UPA government has given to gender equality also proves its commitment to do away with all forms of discrimination suffered by women. In order to empower women, we have given them preferential treatment in taxes and in other areas. The Congress Party is also committed to pushing through thirty three percent reservation for women in Parliament. We have already put this principle into practice within our party organization and hope that other political parties will support this bill when it is tabled in Parliament. Similarly, the tabling of the Employment Guarantee Scheme in certain selected regions once again proves that we have the interest of the poorest of the poor at our heart.

The UPA government has also worked hard to give India an international profile commensurate with its status. The visits of various world leaders to India recently is proof of India's growing economic and international standing. In the past one year, the UPA government has shown its belief in the principles of peace and non-violence in international affairs. We believe in the equality and sovereignty of all nations and in the peaceful resolution of all outstanding disputes.

We have successfully completed one year in office this month. We hope that in the coming years we will be able to implement all the programmes that we have initiated this year to ensure that the common man benefits and that India's continuing economic growth maintains its momentum. We are still at the beginning of our task but the Congress party is determined to tackle the challenge of governance with total dedication and ethical commitment.