NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that “every responsible person holding a position should be questioned” while emphasizing the need to make democracy more active in India.
“Holding the Prime Minister responsible for everything that happens at every level in the nation, it can be good politically or for TRP, but it is not good governance,” PM Modi said while addressing a townhall style event at the Indira Gandhi Stadium Complex in New Delhi.
The PM also included the fact that the governments only think about winning elections. “After winning elections, governments start thinking about how to win next elections or what to do to get more votes next time and then their policies are also shaped accordingly,” he said.
“The spirit of a democracy is incomplete if one thinks the citizen’s role stops at voting. They should be encouraged to government constantly. Participative democracy is essential,” he said.
The PM said that one of the way to promote participative democracy is to strengthen grievance redressal systems. “Grievance redressal systems are the biggest strengths of a democracy. Every citizen should have their problems addressed and responded to,” he said.
Modi also said that India is among the fastest growing economies in the world, but we can’t afford to let it drop.
“Economic development should be constant, it shouldn’t go up and down. This is necessary for us to be at the top. If we achieve over 8% growth rate for next 30 years, then we will be at the top,” he said.