Two years of firefighting

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government completed two years of its second term in office on Sunday. The period has been marred by spiralling prices and accusations of graft against ministers and senior leaders of the Congress and its allies. Alleged irregularities in the allocation of second-generation telecom spectrum and licences, organization of the Commonwealth Games, and the allotment of flats in Mumbai’s Adarsh housing society, among other scandals, have dented the government’s image. But, releasing a report card on the second anniversary of UPA-II, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the government will leave no stone unturned in providing clean and effective governance, and will soon introduce some important and long-awaited pieces of legislation in Parliament, including the Right to Food Bill.