Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said he was in no way apologetic about identifying minority concentrated districts.

Replying to the two-day long cut-motions on the President’s address to the joint session of Parliament in Rajya Sabha, Singh said, “I will not apologise for identifying minority concentrated districts. We are also designing targeted programmes, particularly in the health and education sectors. This is to ensure that the minorities are not left behind and they too get the benefit of the growth process.”

Citing the Sachar Committee (whose report is yet to be discussed by the House), the PM said his government’s new 15-point programme has been designed aiming at crucial development programmes.

Replying to BJP MP Sushma Swaraj’s charge that repealing of POTA was indicative of the UPA government’s soft approach to internal strife, the PM said, “By repealing POTA, which was the most misused law and could neither stop Akshardham nor Jammu incidents, we have listened to the people’s voice.”

Reacting to her criticism of the MoS Home Affairs, saying “tough talks on terror was limited to TV”, the PM retorted, “While tough is good...we must not brutalise our society.”

Replying to Leader of Opposition Jaswant Singh’s charge that by writing to the chief ministers he had tried to pass the buck of price rise to the states, Singh said, “Who else can I turn to but our chief ministers for cooperation. We need the states to implement the policies whether it is to increase cultivation of pulses to water management or Central policies. In all these, the states and the Centre have to work in tandem.”