India needs to improve its governance, Chidambaram admits
Updated: Oct 11, 2013 06:03:20pm
New Delhi, Oct 11 (KNN) Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram today told a world gathering that the country needs to improve its governance by having minimum interference with the rights of the citizens, successful delivery of public goods and preventing market failures.
Good governance in a democracy means securing justice, empowerment, employment and efficient delivery of services, he said, acknowledging facts about governance within the country.
“The defining challenge in India however is in augmenting State capacity,” Chidambaram said in his speech at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on Recapturing India’s Growth Momentum.
One of the major challenges faced by the Indian citizens is getting access to government services and availing their policies in order to get benefits. Chidambaram batted for a society where the rights of the citizens can be free of any kind of government interference and where services and public goods can be successfully delivered to the citizens.
“How do we construct a competent and ethical State, that will minimally interfere with the rights of citizens in property and contracting, that will focus on preventing or resolving market failures, and that will successfully produce and deliver public goods?”, he asked.
FM was also optimistic about the new thinking in public administration and hoped that the agencies would be more focused and accountable.
“We need to build completely new organization charts within the government, leading to sharply focused agencies that can be held accountable for delivery on specific objectives,” he said.
Talking about the cynicism back home he said, “If you believe what our newspapers and television channels report, you may conclude that no Indian politician or civil servant is doing any work.”
However, he was positive about the economy back home.
He said that the Indian economy would grow at over 5.0 per cent and perhaps closer to 5.5 per cent in 2013-14 and urged foreign investors and others not to lose sight of the microeconomic foundations of the country's growth, which are delivering a doubling of GDP every decade.
"That is not an insignificant achievement. It will find its place in history in due course," he added. (KNN/SD)
Good governance in a democracy means securing justice, empowerment, employment and efficient delivery of services, he said, acknowledging facts about governance within the country.
“The defining challenge in India however is in augmenting State capacity,” Chidambaram said in his speech at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on Recapturing India’s Growth Momentum.
One of the major challenges faced by the Indian citizens is getting access to government services and availing their policies in order to get benefits. Chidambaram batted for a society where the rights of the citizens can be free of any kind of government interference and where services and public goods can be successfully delivered to the citizens.
“How do we construct a competent and ethical State, that will minimally interfere with the rights of citizens in property and contracting, that will focus on preventing or resolving market failures, and that will successfully produce and deliver public goods?”, he asked.
FM was also optimistic about the new thinking in public administration and hoped that the agencies would be more focused and accountable.
“We need to build completely new organization charts within the government, leading to sharply focused agencies that can be held accountable for delivery on specific objectives,” he said.
Talking about the cynicism back home he said, “If you believe what our newspapers and television channels report, you may conclude that no Indian politician or civil servant is doing any work.”
However, he was positive about the economy back home.
He said that the Indian economy would grow at over 5.0 per cent and perhaps closer to 5.5 per cent in 2013-14 and urged foreign investors and others not to lose sight of the microeconomic foundations of the country's growth, which are delivering a doubling of GDP every decade.
"That is not an insignificant achievement. It will find its place in history in due course," he added. (KNN/SD)
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