New Delhi: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Monday laid down his formula for better governance at the first Think India Dialogue organised by Network 18 in New Delhi. Modi said clearly that what hurt India the most was policy paralysis due to politics and power play.
Commenting on the way in which politics affects decision making power of the governments, he said that the priority for political parties and leaders in India was to win elections and remain in power. "All decisions are taken keeping an eye on the next election. Political parties are under pressure to avoid or delay decisions dues to elections," he added.
"The decision making process is affected by political pressure. which damages society's trust in government. Our entire decision making process is influenced by pressure from all quarters. This is a danger. It leads to deterioration of society as then people start taking the law into their own hands to get justice," he said. "It is unfortunate that people have lost faith in governments and the system," he added.
Modi said the only way to increase people's faith in the system was through better governance. "The government is omnipresent in India. Still governance is lacking which results in people losing faith in the institution. God is omnipresent, and people have faith in god. Why? It is because god doesn't discriminate, but the government does. In India, the system is such that the government has become the provider and the common man, the seeker. This has to end. The common man is an Indian. He is ours. We have to realise that," Modi added.
Modi added that technology should be utilised for better governance and the education system should focus on skill development of the youth in order to increase their employability. He cited examples from Gujarat to prove his point.
He pointed out that to improve the functioning of nagarpalikas in Gujarat, the government launched a MBBS-type internship programme in engineering and provided incentives to graduates to work with the municipalities. The Gujarat strongman said that there was a sea change in the functioning of the nagarpalikas as soon as engineers were hired as the technical hurdles were overcome. Their results improved drastically and the government's coffers too grew.
Modi laid out his theory of better governance in four simple points: "Government is all about files, governance is all about life. Government is all about outlay, governance is all about outcome. Government is all about power, governance is all about empowerment. Government means rules and regulations while governance means delivery."
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