New Delhi:
Admitting that "some compromises" have to be made in managing a coalition, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said that his government will bring the wrongdoers in scams to book, but ruled out quitting from his post.
In his opening remarks Dr Singh said, "An impression has gone around that we are a scam-driven country." He added "This is weakening the self-confidence of the people of India, and denting the image of the country. We owe it to our country that at least in dealing with facts, we should be as objective as possible."
(Watch: Prime Minister's Q&A with Editors)
"I wish to assure the country as a whole that our government is dead serious about bringing to book all wrongdoers regardless of the position they occupy," he said.
He asserted that his government was not lame duck nor was he a lame duck Prime Minister and it was a functioning government that would go after the scamsters.
(Read: Highlights of PM's meet with Editors) "I have never felt like quitting, I will stay the course," the Prime Minister told television editors and bureau chiefs at a media interaction at 7 Race Course Road, his official residence. "I never felt like resigning because I had a job to do," Manmohan Singh said in response to a question on whether he felt like quitting over the many allegations of corruption against his government.
(Read: Never felt like quitting as I have a job to do, says PM)"In a coalition government, there is a coalition dharma," he stated.
Manmohan Singh said he was not afraid of appearing before any committee, including a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC). There is, he said, an "entirely wrong impression that I was blocking the agreement on a JPC. I have always said my conduct should be, like Caesar's wife, above suspicion".
(PM on JPC: Not afraid to appear before any panel)During the
70-minute interaction, the Prime Minister fielded a wide range of questions covering mainly issues of corruption including the ISRO's deal on S-band spectrum, governance deficit, economy and Parliament stand-off.
"I don't deny that we need to improve quality of governance, " said the Prime Minister, admitting, " I don't say I have never made any mistake. But I am not that big a culprit as being made out to be."
To a question what was his biggest regret in UPA-II, Singh said that "these irregularities have happened. They should not have happened. I am not very happy about these developments".
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