Technology has become a very large tool through which to limit human folly and human temptation in governance, said Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman.
She delivered the NTR Memorial Lecture on ‘Empowerment – Road to Good Governance’, to mark the centenary of NT Rama Rao – actor, politician and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister popularly known as NTR. The Finance Minister attended the event as the main guest at GITAM’s (considered university) Visakhapatnam campus.
“A former prime minister complained that if I send a rupee to the people, they only reach 15 paisa. What Prime Minister Modi has done is to apply technology to contain the process of leaking buckets. There are no leaks, the beneficiary who should get that money gets it. Not 15 paisa for a rupee, but a rupee for a rupee. Technology has come as a very great tool that otherwise limits human folly and human temptation. The human tendency to get something out of it that probably doesn’t belong to him is there, you can’t get around that. Today, one of the goals of good governance is how we’ve adopted technology to make sure its benefits reach the general public.”
“I’m not saying this is infallible. Ingenuity will have an element where people manage to hack even this, but now it is certain that who should get what will go absolutely without any form of theft. Good governance is about looking for instruments with which you can achieve the objectives,” she says.
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“I pay my humble respects to a leader who would have been 100 had he lived today, and to his family. I feel touched that I got a small part in a year long party. Be it Rama or Krishna, to this day there is no one else who can bring that image so perfectly than NT Rama Rao. The movies had a very good mix of authentic references to the Puranas. There were no fabrications and the acting was just incomparable,” the finance minister said, paying her respects to NTR. She added: “When we talk about good governance today, you have so much to say about the time when NT Rama Rao was the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh.”
Nirmala Sitharaman also invoked the message of ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’ and said that there should be an adequate presence of government where necessary, and no more. She added that building trust in people is crucial to good governance.
The event was chaired by Daggubati Purandeswari, National Secretary General, BJP, and the daughter of NT Rama Rao. She spoke about her father NT Rama Rao and his welfare arrangements. She said that most of the NTR’s schemes were later followed by the national government. She added that they plan to run programs for a year as part of the NTR centenary.
Jaya Prakash Narayana, founder of Loksatta, said on the occasion: “Amid an extraordinary crisis, against the trend, under enormous pressure from the so-called scholars, experts and intellectuals, the trade union government and the finance minister did a remarkable job in the fiscal management of a country of the complexity and size of India.If you didn’t do that, and instead intimidate the countries that have gone down a certain path, we simply wouldn’t have the growth dividend today.If India really growth rate of 7+ percent for the next 20-30 years is because at a critical moment, when you could have taken an easy path, you gave us a chance and at the same time took care of the people. taking care of the immediate (needs) but also balancing it with long-term growth.”
Madan M. Pillutla, Dean, Indian School of Business, began by remembering the extraordinary life of NTR and delving into the literature on good governance. He said: “Governance means trying to make the best use of resources and manage the resources in such a way that you can get the best possible outcome. Ultimately, the moral choice is whether a society chooses to provide opportunities to the poor, the vulnerable. It’s not economic. It is a moral choice.” Referring to the book ‘Why Nations Fail’ by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson; he mentions that there is a natural cap to growth for countries that aren’t trying to grow for everyone. “While I say this is a moral claim, there may even be an economic basis for why we should think about growth about everything.”
Among the dignitaries in attendance were Mathukumilli Sri Bharat, President, GITAM (considered university) and sons, daughters, daughters-in-law and grandchildren of NT Rama Rao. K. Niveditha, the granddaughter of NT Rama Rao, gave a word of thanks. The 100th anniversary of the NTR ended with the congratulations of three social workers.
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