Effective government trumps sloganism, gimmickry and populaism.

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Avoided populist course, opted for difficult path to improve governance: PM Modi

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By Times of India

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that he has consciously avoided choosing a "populist course" and had instead opted for a "more difficult path" of correcting the defective government machinery.

Looking back at his one year in office, Modi, when asked if there was something which he could have done differently, said that he had two options.

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"One option was to do things methodically to mobilise the government machinery, correct the many defects and ills which had crept into the system, so as to provide long term benefits to the country in the form of clean, efficient and fair governance.

"The other option was to use the mandate to announce new populist schemes and bombard the media with announcements to keep the people fooled. The latter course is easier and people are used to it.

"However, I did not choose this and instead chose the more difficult path of correcting the defective government machinery in a quiet and methodical way. If I had chosen the populist course, it would have been a breach of the trust placed in me by the people," Modi told PTI.

Asked to enumerate steps that he had taken to change the way the government works, he said, "we have tried to remind government servants that they are servants of the public and have restored discipline in Central government officers.

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"I have done a small thing, one that appears small from outside. I regularly interact with officers over tea; it is part of my working style."

Modi said philosophically he felt that the country would progress only if they worked as teams.

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"The Prime Minister and the chief ministers are one team. The Cabinet ministers and the state ministers are another team. The civil servants at the Centre and the States are yet another team.

"This is the only way we can successfully develop the country. We have taken a number of steps for this and the abolition of the Planning Commission and its replacement with NITI Aayog in which states are full partners is a major step in this direction," he said.