Nitish Kumar’s Lecture on “Good governance”
India International Centre witnessed an amazing speech by former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. On the occasion of the 35th edition of Shri Bheem Sen Sachar Lecture, the subject at hand was “Good Governance: Development with Justice and Social harmony.
Nitish Kumar
Mr. Nitish Kumar talked about decentralization of power, he said “Decentralization of power is a must and we cannot except to grow if we do not decentralize the power”. He talked about the time when his party, Janta Dal United (JDU) was part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government under the leadership of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He said “We had a mechanism in the government which allowed us to take decisions with utmost transparency and consultation. We must ensure that transparency is exercised while taking decisions”.
He showed some concern when he talked about the present working culture of the government and pointed out that “centralization of power may seem good for now but in the longer run it could create chaos”. People want good governance with transparency.
H K Dua, a political commentator, listening to Nitish Kumar
He focused on the need to curb growing cases of corruption which a common man faces on a daily basis. He said “It is painful for a common citizen to pay a bribe to get a menial job done like to get his Driving License or Pan Card”. He said that he introduced ‘Right to Public Service Act’ in Bihar to curb corruption at the lower bureaucratic levels. It brought a great level of transparency. Since its inception more than 80 million citizens have benefitted from the Act.
At the latter stage of his speech he talked about education and how it is the most important tool to eradicate social injustice. He elaborated on the ‘Cycling to School’ programme. A programme in his tenure which encouraged girls to go to school by providing them free bicycles.
Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani
“Bicycle became the symbol of hope for girls”. He then focused on ‘Healthcare’ and said that it is important that each and every citizen gets a good health care service at a nominal price. In the end he took a dig at the present government which is according to him “Trying to put mythology as history”. He said that it is imperative for us to recognize that the Constitution of India puts focus on logical and scientific thinking and these kinds of religious agendas are totally uncalled for. If India is to grow and become a force to reckon with, the entire social circle needs to be taken into account and addressed with utmost focus.
Also present in the room were other well-known personalities like H. K. Dua, senior journalist and political commentator and Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani, retired Indian Navy Admiral.
