New Delhi, Feb 1 (Inditop.com) The high level of optimism among the Indian people has made them impatient for results, with no room for complacency within all the pillars of democracy, including the judiciary and the media, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said.
“While there is unprecedented optimism in the country about our prospects for future, there are also newer challenges that we as administrators face. Governance today has become extremely complex,” the prime minister said.
“Rising expectations of people make them impatient with the speed at which we deliver results. People today resent apathy, sloth and corruption in any form and at any level of government more than ever before,” he told a conference of chief secretaries here.
“There is clamour for accountability from all quarters — the legislature, the judiciary and the media.”
The prime minister said greater connectivity and greater integration of states in the national economy also imply that what happens in one state has an impact on others, he said.
There were many problems requiring a response that is coordinated not just between the federal government and states but also among the affected states themselves, he said.
“All this requires that our response to problems and crises has to be much more creative and imaginative.”
For this, the bureaucracy must be well informed, trained and equipped to tackle the tasks ahead and that can happen only when the governance apparatus is quick, innovative and flexible to match the demanding needs of today and the future.
Drawing comfort from the manner in which India handled the challenges posed by the global slowdown much better than many other economies, the prime minister stressed that inclusive growth remained the government’s centre-piece of development.
“Fast economic growth has little meaning if it does not lead to the well being of the poor and the disadvantaged, of our farmers and workers, of our children, students and women. The benefits of the development process have to percolate to every part of our country.”
He said it was for the bureaucracy to ensure that the numerous welfare programmes of the federal and state governments are implemented in the spirit in which they have been conceived, without road-blocks and leakages, through decentralised governance.
“All this constitutes a huge task that requires dedication, commitment and persistence. I would like to add here that the central government does recognize that there is always room for improvement in these schemes and programmes.”
