Govt committed to caring polity: Kalam

NEW DELHI: President A P J Abdul Kalam on Friday said the UPA government has been able to create an environment of social and political stability based on a commitment to the welfare of weaker sections and was committed to an "inclusive society, a caring polity and a sharing economy".

"The UPA''s vital contribution to the nation has been the return of the polity to mainstream political values of pluralism, inclusiveness, secularism and economic growth with equity and social justice," he said in his address to the joint sitting of Parliament.

Kalam said in a span of just nine months in office, the government has already devoted considerable time and energy to the implementation of the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP).

He said the government has sustained the process of economic growth with due regard to equity and social justice. It has ensured communal harmony and imparted a new sense of hope to minorities and weaker sections of society.

"My government has infused a sense of belonging among various disaffected groups, especially in North-Eastern states and among tribal communities across the country," the President said.

He noted the handing over of the historic Kangla Fort to the people of Manipur was not just a glorious moment in the history of the Manipuri people, "it also symbolized my government''s commitment to all segments of society that they have a right to live a life of dignity and self-respect".

He said it was with this same message that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Jammu and Kashmir to empathise with people living in the Kashmir valley and migrant Kashmiri pandits in Jammu.