UPA to subject its work to ''reality check'' by others

New Delhi, Aug 1 (UNI) The United Progressive Alliance Government (UPA) today said it will get a ''reality check'' done by others of the working of its various scheme in a bid to increase its accountability to the people.

''We are planning to involve different organisations in the task,'' Minister for Information and Broadcasting Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi said here while releasing a book 'Taking UPA Report Card to the Masses' which is an account of functioning of various schemes during the three years of the UPA government.

The Lokmat Group of Papers have done a ''reality check'' of the government's claims.

Describing this as a novel experiment, Mr Dasmunsi said issuing a report card for the masses was in keeping with the UPA government's promise in the Common Minimum Programme that it would maintain accountability to the people.

The Report Card is about the working of various government schemes in Maharashtra.

The Chairman of Lokmat group of Papers Vijay Darda said the collection was a neat blend of the government's achievements and the situation as it obtains on the ground.

''We have gone to every nook and corner with the help of extensive network of our correspondents to create this document. We are hopeful that this document will present a picture of the emerging India reality,'' he said.

Mr Dasmunsi said the government had planned to invlove more organisations in checking the implementation of the various schemes for the people.

Criticism was the backbone of democracy and the government wants its mistakes and wrongs to be pointed out, the Minister said.

He said the government's delivery system was sound, but it was the implementation of schemes at the state level that was important.

Mr Dasmunsi, who is also the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, said that he did not mean to criticise any particular state political party, but was stating a fact.

The UPA Government had done something to be happy about in the last three years, though it would not claim that all was shining, he said.

The rupee has appreciated, the growth rate has gone up to 9.2 per cent this year while it was nine per cent in 2006-07 financial year.

Moreover, the food grain production had gone up from 21.5 million tonne to 25.8 million tonne this year and infrastructure grew by one per cent, he said adding the country now possessed 2.64 billion dollars of foreign excange.

The fiscal deficit was also lower by 13.8 per cent over the previous year's and every state was now cash rich.

One more point of satisfaction was that the prices had stabalised, said Mr Dasmunsi.

Minister of state for Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Pachauri, Minister of State for Mines Dr Subbirami Reddy also spoke at the function.

UNI