The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government on Tuesday received commendation for its Common Minimum Programme from an unexpected quarter as the Swadeshi Jagran Manch hailed the document as 'a good beginning'.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated organisation said the new coalition had 'attempted to reflect the aspirations of the common man and balance the growth imperatives'.
"The Common Minimum Programme appears to disseminate the message that the government is serious about welfare of farmers, artisans, workers and weaker sections of society," SJM national convener Muralidhar Rao told reporters in Delhi.
"It can be called a good beginning but there is a long road to be travelled between promises and implementation.
"We welcome the new government under the leadership of Manmohan Singh with the hope that he will really translate promises he made about constructing a new and unique framework where agriculture, SSI, unorganised sector and generating employment become central along with economic growth," he said.
The SJM hopes that Singh would 'decipher the true meaning of the mandate (of the general election) and craft policies to fulfil the expectations of the people'.
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Claiming that the economic policies of the National Democratic Alliance government were largely responsible for its defeat, Rao said, "Except for its stand on WTO issues, NDA's economic policies were rejected by the electorate."
The divestment of PSUs 'definitely' played a part in NDA's debacle as 'even those who support divestments think it was done wrongly'.
Welcoming scrapping of the Divestment Ministry, Rao said the SJM is of the view that divestment should be carried out in consultation with concerned ministries in a 'transparent manner'.
"We are not against privatisation or private participation per se, but this should be carried out with care and in a transparent manner," he said adding that the SJM is against divestment in oil and telecom sectors but favours selling off hotels.