Communal harmony will be preserved at all cost: Prez

Declaring that communal harmony would be preserved at all cost, President Pratibha Patil today said that the Government will seek early approval of the Bill introduced in Parliament for prevention of communal violence.

"The mandate my government received was unmistakable in that the people wanted the country's secular fabric to be protected," she said addressing a joint sitting of Parliament, the first after the new government assumed office.

Patil also said that the government will continue to accord the highest priority to welfare of minorities.

"The Prime Minister's New 15-point Programme for the welfare of minorities and the action taken on the recommendation of the Sachar Committee have, to some extent, succeeded in ensuring an equitable share for the minorities in government resources, jobs and plans," she said.

Noting steps that were underway would be consolidated further, the President said the government would also strive to strengthen and modernise the administration of Wakfs, reform the management of Haj operations and set up an Equal Opportunities Commission.

"My government sees the overwhelming mandate it has received as a vindication of the policy architecture of inclusion that it put in place. It is a mandate for inclusive growth, equitable development and a secular and plural India," she said noting that her government in 2004 had unfolded before the country a "vision of an inclusive society and an inclusive economy".