Manmohan in tricky balancing act

In his first year in office, the 72-year-old prime minister has had to use all his diplomatic skills to assure many more people who expect the distinguished academic to follow their advice.

Those include communist allies opposed to economic reform, senior ministers accused by courts of corruption and Congress Party leader Italian-born Sonia Gandhi who manages election strategy, leaving many observers to view Singh as India's first technocrat prime minister with little political sway.

By Singh's reckoning, he gets a six on a scale of 10 for managing the fortunes of the one-billion-plus population.

The government's successes include a new patent law, a nuclear non-proliferation law and a freedom-of-information law that empowers citizens to challenge widespread corruption in Indian government.

Still, Singh was rebuffed by communist allies on increased foreign investment and warned repeatedly he could lose their crucial support for pursuing market-friendly policies such as raising fuel prices.

More importantly, efforts to cut poverty have not been successful for almost 300 million people who live on less than a dollar a day, a key vote bank for the Congress and its left-wing allies and which calls into question whether the government will complete a full five-year term.

"I am not satisfied with what we have been able to do in terms of implementing new policy initiatives," the Oxford-educated Singh said in an appraisal of his government, days before its one-year anniversary on Sunday.

"I do sincerely believe that we can do better. In the coming year, that will be our endeavour," he said.