Reforms needed for financing polls:PM

NEW DELHI: Acknowledging that role of black money in polls was a problem, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said reforms were needed for financing of elections and political activities.

Singh said in the country's political system "the role of black money in the financing of elections is a problem and until we tackle it, I think we cannot say that we have reduced the scope of corruption".

"So, financing of elections, financing of political activities is, I think, an area where reforms are needed", Singh said interacting with probationers of 2005 IAS batch at his residence here.

He said about 30 per cent of public expenditure relating to Centre, state, municipal and panchayat bodies was still accounted for by the public sector. "And therefore when public sector is responsible for this large spending, there is always scope for corruption".

Singh, who responded to question-answer session after his address, told the bureaucrats that winning the hearts and minds of the weakest sections must be their primary concern.

Asking the young officers to take a long-term view of the multitude of problems afflicting the country, he said "we are a democracy. Politicians come, politicians go. Governments come, governments go and therefore very often the situation is such that there are very few people who can think long-term  about the future of the country, how various problems can be resolved."