Govt open to persuasion, asks Anna to end fast

Addressing the Lok Sabha today prime minister Manmohan Singh said that he wants Jan Lok Pal Bill to be given due consideration by the Parliamentary Standing Committee and that they are "open to persuasion and have an open-mind".

A day after talks between government and Team Anna ended in a deadlock on resolving key issues , Government today, Law Minister Salman Khurshid also made it clear that there was no question about anyone from the government ever saying that they don't care what happens to Hazare's health.

"The main concern for me and the Prime Minister is Anna's health. We are very concerned about it," Khurshid told reporters outside Parliament.

PM said that there is a need to collectively find credible solutions to corruption. "I respect Anna Hazare's idealism. I applaud and salute him. His life is much too precious, I urge him to end his fast," the prime minister said.

In the same vein Khurshid also said that "if I am told to step out" for the sake of the dialogue process to continue, then "I am ready to do that. The idea of dialogue was that we can bring convergence between their priorities and our priorities", he said.

The minister said Team Anna's stance has given rise to "skepticism" as "they say one thing to us inside and they say something else outside".

"We are not a party of automatons. We are a party of thinking people," he added.

Meanwhile Singh said that PAC head Murli Manohar Joshi turned his speech into a personal attack on him "as if I am the fountainhead of corruption".

Mechanism to end discretionary powers of ministers to be soon in place, Singh assured.

"Corruption is a major national issue. We will do everything in our power to clean the system," said the prime minister.

He aslo added that there was less scope for corruption now as far as taxation is concerned.