Prez address to list steps on corruption, black money

Battling allegations of scams, the government is expected to come out strongly against on the issue in President Pratibha Patil’s address to the joint sitting of Parliament on February 21— the opening day of the budget session. Saroj Nagi reports.

Battling allegations of scams, the government is expected to come out strongly against on the issue in President Pratibha Patil’s address to the joint sitting of Parliament on February 21— the opening day of the budget session.

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Steps taken to fight graft and recover black money are also expected to figure in President’s address.

The Cabinet met on Tuesday to vet the text of the Presidential Address. “Certain suggestions were made, and these would be incorporated into the text,’’ said a source.

The Address itself is considered significant as it gives a broad picture of the government’s achievements of the previous year and lays out a road map about policies and progammes in the year ahead.

The meeting, presided by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, went into each paragraph of the text as cabinet secretary KM Chandrashekhar read out the draft. No other issue was taken up in the meeting.

A senior minister said there was no mention of the joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the 2G scam in the President’s Address.

The formation of the panel is likely to be announced in Parliament itself after the modalities and terms of reference for it have been worked out between the government and the opposition.