Good governance key to all-round development: Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the “good governance is the key to all-round development” and it is time people shun the attitude of seeking personal gains while drawing up public schemes. The NDA-led Central government observes the day as “Good Governance Day” to celebrate the birthday of former Prime Minister and BJP veteran Atal Behari Vajpayee.

“Governance cannot happen when the dominant thought process begins at ‘mera kya’ (how will it benefit me) and ends at ‘mujhe kya’ (why should I bother). We have changed this mindset. For us, decisions are about national interest and not political gains,” Mr Modi said at a public meeting after launching a 12-km stretch of Delhi Metro’s Magenta Line in Noida (Uttar Pradesh).

He said while India is a prosperous country, people have been deprived of its benefits due to poor governance.

“But I have taken upon myself to change all this. It is a tough decision (for many) when they have to think whether the policy would benefit them politically,” he said.

The Prime Minister noted that if a policy was in “black and white” and well laid out, it would leave little scope for discretion, thus bringing down corruption. “When I came to power, newspapers used to report in box items that now officers have started coming to office on time. Employees have to be more accountable,” he said.

Crediting Mr Vajpayee for empowering people through his concept of good governance, Mr Modi said the former premier had put thrust on good governance and connectivity. “The Pradhan Mantri Rural Road scheme was his idea and many do not know about it. Villages are being linked with roads. By 2019, all roads will be linked to roads. The Golden Quadrangle project has also been hastened,” he said.

He thanked the people of UP for adopting him when he became member of the Lok Sabha from Varanasi.