PTI

New Delhi, Mar 6: Taking the Opposition criticism head on, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday hit back saying the massive farm loan waiver was a result of the NDS Government’s neglect of farmers and asserted it was not apologetic on schemes for minorities.

He was unsparing in his criticism of the BJP-led NDA Government , especially its Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani on security and farm issues.

Rejecting the Opposition charge that the Rs 60,000-crore farm loan waiver in the Budget was announced with an eye on elections, he said it was a historic initiative to meet the ‘unpaid distress bill’ left behind by the NDA Govern - ment.

He dismissed fears of a weakening of the banking system or contraction of the credit flow due to the waiver. The distress of the bold peasantry brought the UPA to office.

The debt relief ‘is our attempt to finally remove the burden of the NDA period from our farmers’ shoulders.’

Cheered by his coalition MPs and repeatedly interrupted by the BJP members, Singh attacked the previous government’s record on internal security and said sabre-rattling does not prevent terror.

“It requires efficient, effective policing and intelligence gathering,” Singh said. After Singh’s stinging reply, both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha adopted the motion of thanks to President’s address but not before the Opposition staged a walkout apparently upset over his stinging attack.

The Left parties also trooped out demanding immediate legislation on women’s reservation in Parliament and assemblies.

Admitting his government’s ‘inability’ to honour its commitment on the Women’s Reservation Bill, Singh said: “Time has come to make yet another effort to evolve a broadbased consensus so that we can bring a Bill as soon as possible.’

Singh said he saw a ‘ray of hope’ as he noted that the leaders of main political parties of Pakistan, in their first pronouncements after the elections, had spoken of their interest in developing close relations and working with India to bring about durable peace.

“India wants to live in peace with Pakistan. The destinies of our two nations are interlinked,” he said. “We need to put the past behind us. We need to think about our collective destiny, our collective security, our collective prosperity.”

Singh said the government is committed to maintaining ‘reasonable’ price stability at 4-5 percent, but it will not be at the cost of farmers. “We are committed to reasonable price stability but we will not be a party to maintain so called price stability by neglecting the prices that ought to be paid to our farmers,” Singh said.