Manmohan Singh gestures during a conference of chief ministers of Indian states on internal security

Admitting that 'some compromises' have to be made in managing a coalition, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday declared that his government will bring the wrongdoers in scams to book but ruled out quitting from his post.

He asserted that his government was not lameduck nor was he a lameduck Prime Minister and it was a functioning government that would go after the scamsters.

On the 2G scam involving former telecom minister A. Raja, the Prime Minister said concerns were expressed but he did not press for auction after ministries of telecom and finance agreed to go by the prevailing practice of not auctioning the spectrum which was also supported by expert bodies like Trai and telecom commission.

About re-induction of Raja despite complaints, he said in a coalition, it was not in his hands about whom to be inducted from a coalition partner. "You cannot suggest your preferences and you have to go by the choice of the leader of the party.

"Raja and Dayanidhi Maran were the choice of DMK and I had no reason to feel that anything seriously wrong has been done. I did not feel that I had the authority to object to Raja's entry although complaints were coming from some companies who were not benefitted and some who had not benefitted adequately. I was not in a position to make up my mind about Raja", he said.

The Prime Minister said "in a coalition, there is a coalition dharma. Obviously, things are not entirely what I would like them to be. I never felt like resigning as I have a job to do.

"The country voted our party to be the leader of the UPA coalition and we have lot of unfinished tasks to be accomplished. I have never felt of giving up halfway. I will stay the course. I never thought of resigning," he told television editors at an interaction here.

During the 70-minute interaction, the Prime Minister fielded a wide range of questions covering mainly issues of corruption including the Isro's deal on S-band spectrum, governance deficit, economy and Parliament standoff.

Mr Singh also made it clear that he was not afraid of facing any Parliamentary committee including a JPC on 2G scam. He said all efforts were being made and talks were on with opposition to ensure smooth Budget Session of Parliament.

"I don't say I have never made any mistake. But I am not that big a culprit as being made out to be," he said in reply to a question whether he would accept personal responsibility as head of the government for whatever has happened in the government.

"I am conscious about personal responsibility. I feel about it. My compuslion is that I have to bear a lot because we cannot have elections in every six months. Some compromises have to be made in managing a coalition. A coalition government has to be viewed in a context that no single party has emerged to rule by itself," he said.

In his opening remarks, the Prime Minister referred to the media expose of various scams including the Commonwealth Games, Isro deal, Adarsh housing affairs but asked the media not to give an image that India was a scam-driven country and nothing good was happening.

He said that such an image would weaken the self-confidence of the people and it would not be in the interest of the country.

"I wish to assure the country as a whole that our government is dead serious about bringing to book all wrongdoers regardless of the position they occupy," he said.

To a question what was his biggest regret in UPA-II, Mr Singh said that "these irregularities have happened. They should not have happened. I am not very happy about these developments".

He virtually disagreed with the CAG calculations on the loss figure in the 2G scam saying the CAG itself had called it presumptive.

There are various methods of computing the figures and went on to question whether the Rs 80,000 crore being spent on foodgrain subsidy, Rs 60,000 crore on fertilisers and subsidy on kerosene could be called as loss.

He was replying to a question whether he agreed with telecom minister Kapil Sibal's description of zero loss in the 2G scam.

To a question on home minister P Chidambaram's comments on governance deficit, he admitted, "obviously, some events have brought out the weaknesses in governance and processes, I think we need to improve the quality of governance. But that does not divide me and other members of the government."

He rejected a questioner's suggestion that his government was facing double-incumbency of attacks from the opposition and within the party.

"I do not get that impression (party not backing him). In a democracy, there are views and discussions and when decisions are taken, our party stands united in support of the government.

"I would like a cohesive party to support the government but I am not saying it is not happening," he said.