Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday indicated that it is not possible to keep elected people out of government and the 'problem has to be solved at the roots'.

The solution, he said, lies in preventing the entry of tainted people to legislatures.

"All political parties must sit and agree on electoral reform to ensure that so called tainted people with criminal backgrounds do not get elected," Singh said at a press conference in Delhi.

His government would convene an all-party conference to 'forge a consensus on all aspects of electoral reforms'.

He said the 'malady' of criminalisation of the political processes 'must be nipped in the bud at the electoral stage if we seriously wish to deal with its consequences for governance'.

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Asked about 'cleansing' various departments of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh elements, the PM said that he was against education being made 'a prisoner of ideology or excessive bureaucratic dominance'.

De-politicisation of educational institutions and granting of maximum possible autonomy to them was high on the agenda of the government, he said, adding that freedom should be given to institutions to manage their own affairs.

In a veiled attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party for stalling proceedings in Parliament, the PM said, "Every political party has a right to seek power, but once the people's verdict is in, the winner must govern. This is the sacred responsibility the electorate has given us and we will fulfil it."

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