Some UPA partners plundering national wealth: Bardhan

Communist Party of India on Saturday alleged some UPA partners were plundering national wealth so much so that even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was finding it difficult to defend them.

Communist Party of India on Saturday alleged some UPA partners were plundering national wealth so much so that even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was finding it difficult to defend them.

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Presenting a report on the economic and political situation in the country on the opening day of CPI’s three-day National Council meet here on Saturday, party general secretary A B Bardhan charged many ministers in the Manmohan Singh cabinet were "neck-deep in corruption".

"The situation has become so brazen that the government of India has readied proposals to amend the Right to Information Act only to safeguard the corrupt ministers. The corruption malice has spread even to judiciary and defence sectors," Bardhan alleged.

Critising the UPA government over the Women’s Reservation Bill, Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act and the Food Security Bill, the CPI general secretary said the Centre was once again singing the "consensus" song on the Women’s Reservation Bill after having failed to move it in the Lok Sabha.

"Similarly, it is adopting double standards on the proposed Food Security Act as well. The Centre is trying to re-define the below poverty level and thereby water-down the food security in contravention of the promise made in Congress manifesto", Bardhan said.

He said that in the first year of UPA-2, India slipped to 132nd position in Human Development Index and to 126th place in per capita GDP.

While 77 per cent (84 crore) of the country’s population are eking out their livelihood with an income of less than Rs 20 a day, about 3,000 top executives of corporate companies were taking home an aggragate Rs 20,000 crore per annum with salaries ranging from Rs 5 crore to Rs 40 crore each, Bardhan pointed out.