PM admits to lapses, defends government

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today sought to assure the country that his government is "dead serious" in bringing to book all the wrong doers, including 2G scam accused, regardless of the position they may occupy.

During his first interaction with the visual media on the 2G spectrum allocation scam and other developments that has been engaging public attention, the prime minister, however, advised caution over stretching things too far, as he said, it would affect the country's image and the morale of the larger public.

He admitted that the aberrations, whether in the form of allocation of 2G spectrum, the Commonwealth Games or the Adarsh society affairs and more recently some developments in the space organisation are issues which require corrective action.

"However, I would like to say that in projecting these events an impression has gone round that we are a scam-driven country and that nothing good is happening in our country. In the process, believingly, I think we are weakening the self-confidence of the people of India," he said.

The government is "functioning" and is very much alive to the issues, the PM said, adding he is "no lame duck prime minister."

"We take our job very seriously, we are here to govern and to govern effectively, tackle the problems as they arise and get this country moving forward on a pace of development which would do justice to the demands being made on the process of governance," he said.