The United Progressive Alliance’s top leadership today spoke in unison on the need to move ahead with reforms in the labour and financial sectors, and emphasised it was working on building a broad political consensus.

Responding to a question by Rajya Sabha member N K Singh at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit on stalled reforms in the labour, financial and insurance sectors, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, “We need to push forward the reforms process in the areas you have mentioned and we will do so.”

Immediately afterwards, responding to The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta’s observation that even the Bhartiya Janata Party is ready to support the government on crucial reforms in the financial sector, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee — who was also addressing the summit — said, “We don’t have the required majority in the two Houses (of Parliament) to clear the Bills ... a broad political consensus is needed… changes in labour laws and in insurance need political consensus, not only nationally, but within the ruling coalition as well. We have to converge the views within the coalition as also outside the coalition, and I am trying to arrive at that.”

When asked if he will be able to push through the legislation, Mukherjee said, “I will be able to get the legislation introduced… can’t say whether it will be done in the winter session or the budget session, but will try to get it done.”

Earlier, Singh said that investments in the rural sector would power the growth engines to expand by 9-10 per cent. “Reforms process has many dimensions — increased investment in rural infrastructure, more emphasis on health and education is probably of (the) greatest importance,” the Prime Minister said, adding that the government should aim to sustain annual growth rates of 9-10 per cent. Mukherjee, too, said he was targeting a 9 per cent growth rate in next two years from 6.5 per cent in 2009-10. “We must grow by 9 per cent in two years ... I am optimistic,” he said.

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