New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held a rare media roundtable with TV editors on Wednesday as his government grapples with a slew of crises from corruption scandals to high inflation.
Following are highlights of comments by Singh:
On negative perceptions of Singh's government
"Whatever some people may say, that we are a lame duck government, that I am a lame duck prime minister, we take our job very seriously, we are here to govern, and to govern effectively, tackle the problems as they arise and get this country moving forward."
"An impression has gone round that we are a scam-driven country and nothing good is happening in our country, that we are weakening the self-confidence of the people of India. I do not think that is in the interest of anyone in our country."
On rumours of PM's resignation
"I never felt like resigning because I have a job to do. The country voted our party to be the leader of the coalition, and we have a lot of unfinished business to accomplish ... I will stay the course."
On PM's reform agenda
* "We have not given up, we will persist. There are difficulties, particularly when parliament is not allowed to function. I think parliament is not able to perform its essential function, being a forum for legislation."
On corruption scandals
"I wish to assure you and I wish to assure the country as a whole, that our government is dead serious in bringing to book all the wrongdoers, regardless of their position they may occupy."
On Singh's role in the telecom licence scandal
"As far as who gets licences, the first-come-first-served policy, how it is implemented, that was never discussed with me. Licences were not a matter which ever got referred to me or the cabinet. That was a decision exclusively of the telecoms ministry."
On the strength of Singh's coalition
"Ours is a strong coalition. Our allies are as committed ... to this coalition government as anyone else. There is no danger there might be any inner tensions that may lead to the break up of this coalition. We are a strong government, we are a strong coalition."
On the next Parliament session
"India as a whole has to march forward. Parliament has not been allowed to function for reasons that I am not able to understand. But we are making an honest effort to ensure that the next session of parliament will be an orderly session.
"We have important legislation, apart from the budget, to put before parliament. And talks are going on with the opposition parties to ensure that whatever our differences, parliament should be able to function normally."
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