CBCI Delegate meets Indian PM; Welcomes Common Minimum Programme

New Delhi – The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India have welcomed the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government at the Centre, which among other things, promises to bring social justice, economic prosperity and communal harmony in the country.

Addressing a news conference, Most Rev. Percival Fernandez, Secretary–General of CBCI, said that “CMP addressed the strong and steady demand for achieving greater heights in social cohesion, economic progress and good governance.”

“We strongly believe that our country can achieve true and lasting progress only when all sections of society are given their due share at all levels of governance. Neglect of any one section of society is bound to create discontentment, which manifests itself in different forms. And we express our hope that the Common Minimum Program will adequately address this issue in the coming days,” he said.

“Social and economic backwardness has plagued a vast number of our people. And there have been valiant attempts both from the part of the Government and other social organizations to remove this drawback. Such attempts in the past have yielded some good and tangible results, but there is still a long way to go before we can confidently claim that our society is free of such ills,” he added.

The Dalits and minority communities in India have always played a very important role in nation building but they have not always been given to feel a sense of fully belonging to the larger Indian reality. Discrimination under many pretexts still exists, which has caused disquiet among these sections of society. Various attempts were made in the past by the Government to instill confidence in the minds of those who have been victims of various ill–conceived social structures and ideologies. However, the results were not up to the expectation.

To express their solidarity with the new coalition government, the new CBCI president Cardinal Telesphore Toppo led a delegation and met the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh and the President of the Congress party, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, on Saturday and congratulated both the leaders for their recent Lok Sabha elections victory. Appreciating the bold policy statement made in the Common Minimum Programme, the CBCI delegation, that included Most Rev. Percival Fernandez, the Secretary General, CBCI, Rev. Fr. Donald H.R. De Souza, the Dy. Sec. General, CBCI and Rev Fr. Babu Joseph SVD, the spokesperson, CBCI, assured all cooperation from their community so that the new coalition government can implement the innovative and socially productive policies Programme in the best possible manner to benefit all sections of the people and help in the socio–economic construction of the country.

“The direction that the CMP purports to take is in right earnest keeping in mind the legitimate aspirations of our people,” Toppo said, hoping the government would not neglect any section of society. “We strongly believe that our country can achieve true and lasting progress only when all sections of society are given their due share at all levels of governance. Neglect of any one section of society is bound to create discontentment.”

It is reported that both the leaders thanked the delegation for their well wishes and assured all support and cooperation to the Christian community that have always played an important role in contributing to the development of the nation through the selfless sacrifice and social service they render.

Whereas Dr. Manmohan Singh has assured the delegation that the members of the Christian community would be adequately represented at all levels of governance, Mrs. Gandhi stressed upon the importance of fulfilling the aspirations of the underprivileged and marginalized sections of the nation.

Condemning the atrocities that were perpetrated on the minorities in the past, Dr. Singh said that the focus of the new government would be creating an atmosphere of social and communal harmony and strive towards economic progress that would benefit all sections of the people.

– staff reporter