Think India Dialogue series: Highlights of Modi's speech

Moneycontrol Bureau

In his keynote speech of Think India Forum, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi spoke on ideas for India, driven by less government, more governance theme. Congratulating Network 18 team for the unique initiative, Modi stressed that dialogue yields better results.

The subject is of wider relevance even in the context of the next general elections, where economic issues and recent failures will dominate.

Think India Forum, a think tank is a brainchild of Raghav Bahl, founder and Managing Director of the Network18 media group that includes CNN-IBN, CNBC-TV18 and other TV properties, and several digital publications, including Firstpost and Moneycontrol.com.

Here are the highlights of Narendra Modi's speech:

• Coming to power has become priority in this country.
• Dialogue always yields positive results.
• When I say 'minimum govt', I do not mean job cuts.
• People have more faith in god's law but not in government. There is lack of trust in government's ability to deliver.
• Decision-making is done under political pressure which leads to suboptimal outcomes This is what brings govt negative image.
• Have to take steps to instill confidence of govt in people.
• Governance, laws must evolve as situations, times change.
• More effective governance is not impossible.
• Govt growing in size, not skills; so it fails to deliver.
• Need integrated approach to fortify institutions.
• Governance more effective when citizens act responsibly.
• Public-private partnership not enough. Need P4 concept -people-public-private partnership.
• People must be empowered to feel involved in governance.
• Technology an important ammunition for good governance. Technology improving delivery systems.
• I have had to go to the Supreme Court to lay cooking gas pipelines
  as absurd centre won't allow a state to lay cooking gas lines.
  Have been reducing govt's role slowly.
• Delivery systems will fail without power decentralisation.
• Because of clean drinking water, there have been no epidemics in Gujarat.
• We have erected the necessary infrastructure, but work is still not being carried out properly.
• All governance in India talk about outlay, not outcome.
• Government is about outlay, governance is about outcome.
• Governance should not get entangled in files.
• Government is file, governance is life.
• Government is all about power, governance is all about empowerment.
• Governments should outsource the monitoring system to cut red tape.
• Quality of governance provides legitimacy to government.
• Informing the people, decentralisation, consent, people's participation in decision-making process should be introduced.