PM takes stock of economy, Mukul Roy skips meet

Union Railway Minister Mukul Roy on Wednesday skipped a meeting of key economic ministers called by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to review their performance.

The Trinamool Congress MP said that he could not attend the meeting as he was stuck with the campaigning of for the by-elections in Mathura. He further said that the Prime Minister was already informed about his absence.

Notably, the Union Railway Minister has been accused of compromising on the safety and service by taking populist measures such as fare hike rollback.

Meanwhile, addressing the meeting, the Prime Minister said that the need was to create "an atmosphere which is conducive to investment and to removing any bottlenecks to growth", expressing happiness over detailed exercise undertaken for finalising targets.

"We are aware that we have to act on multiple fronts to achieve this and we will indeed do all that is required of us…all of us would agree that development of infrastructure would always be an integral part of any strategy for fast economic development," said the Prime Minister.

Referring to the recent dip in the growth rate, the Prime Minister said, "We will return to 9% growth trajectory soon."

He further said that the challenge was to work together to achieve the targets, urging the ministers to "go the extra mile in implementing what we have planned".

The Prime Minister also emphasised on the need of involving private sectors through public-private partnership.

In a visible step to end the policy paralysis of the government, the Prime Minister on Wednesday called a meeting of key economic ministers to review their performance.

During the meeting, the ministers for Coal, Shipping, Railways, Civil Aviation and Power presented their proposals. The Prime Minister is also believed to have presented a blueprint and deadline to bring the economy back on track at the meeting.

Bogged down by scams, high inflation, rising crude oil prices, eurozone crisis and lack of initiatives to boost the domestic market, the Indian economy has lost its sheen and grew by just 5.3% in the last quarter.

The meeting assumes significance as it came just days after a crucial Congress Working Committee meeting, wherein the government was asked to take tough decisions and stick to them. It was also mentioned at the meeting that the Congress must not appear to be bowed down by the pressure of the allies.

It also must be noted that no major decisions concerning the ministries were taken in the Union Budget, following which the government was slammed for policy paralysis.

Here's a look at the issues pertaining to different ministries, which are believed to have been taken up during the meeting chaired by the Prime Minister.

Coal Ministry: Under Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal's tenure, coal productivity has stagnated. The power companies have been complaining of lack of coal supply for their power units.

Civil Aviation Ministry: The ministry has seen a prolonged and spiraling crisis in Air India and there has also been dithering over foreign investment in airlines. The air fares have even increased by 80 to 100 per cent since Ajit Singh took over.

Shipping Ministry: Under minister G K Vasan, the capacity addition has stagnated and the port development offtake has been slow.

Transport Ministry: Surface transport minister CP Joshi is accused of inertia with 21 projects under his ministry incomplete. His critics charge him with concentrating too much on his home state of Rajasthan.