People frustrated at poor delivery of services: Montek

The Planning Commission believes if corrective steps are taken to weed out corruption, people frustrated at the poor delivery of public services would find India a stronger claimant for faster growth.

“I think if we take corrective steps over a broad range, people will feel from the growth point of view that we are becoming stronger candidate for faster growth,” Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told reporters here today. He said poor delivery of public services had frustrated many people.

“There is an issue of frustration that many people feel they are not able to access public services which are their right. It takes too long to take all those things which they should be getting on the table,” Ahluwalia said. “You had a people’s mobilisation, they wanted to have their views heard, you got a resolution of the problem. The thing is moving forward in a way that has protected the Constitutional provision and supremacy of Parliament.”

Parliament on Saturday adopted a ‘Sense of the House’ for creating Lokpal, after social activist Anna Hazare went on fast. The 74-year-old activist called off his fast only after Parliament endorsed his proposals for a strong and effective Lokpal. Pointing out that corruption was not just India-specific, Ahluwalia said, “Most people are actually viewing this from outside as an interesting way...how an open society deals with an issue. I think they will be watching what steps we take.”

In its approach paper to the 12th Plan (2012-17), the Commission has taken a broad look on the issue. It said though institutions like Lokpal and Lokayukta would help in improving the overall environment, much broader range of interventions were needed.