New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday urged the sitting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief ministers to implement a data-driven governance model based on technology and end “licence raj”.
In an over four-hour-long meeting in Varanasi during his two-day trip to his parliamentary constituency, PM Modi told all the 12 BJP CMs to ease the compliance burden in every sector and focus on climate-resilient infrastructure and natural farming, according to an official BJP statement.
BJP national president J.P. Nadda, deputy chief ministers from the party, and other top leaders also attended the meet that was aimed at sharing good governance practices within the party.
“The basic idea was to showcase best practices and the BJP model of governance,” senior BJP leader Vinay Sahasrabuddhe told ThePrint.
The CMs and their deputies made presentations and highlighted key welfare schemes of their respective states, elaborating on innovative practices.
Some of these included climate-resilient infrastructure projects, issuance of family identity cards, schemes for promotion of natural farming, and rural livelihood programmes with self-help groups at the centre.
“Many chief ministers made presentations on best practices adopted in their states. Some are highly successful and it came to the notice of other chief ministers to adopt them,” said Sahasrabuddhe, who was present during the meeting.
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What the PM spoke about
According to the BJP statement, PM Modi highlighted several dimensions to governance during the meet and called upon every BJP government to carve a niche for itself in one or the other sector.
The PM called for prioritising ‘ease of living’ while referring to his government’s maxim of ‘minimum government, maximum governance’. He sought removal of archaic laws and reduced compliance burdens, the statement said.
He also asked the CMs to adopt a data-driven approach to governance for last-mile delivery with speed and transparency.
To boost economic opportunities amid the government’s ‘atmanirbhar (self-reliance)’ push, the prime minister asked the CMs to work on ‘One District, One Product’, the statement said, adding that the states were asked to consider exporting their products overseas.
Modi also stressed the importance of youth development and women empowerment as priority sectors. He mentioned the need to strengthen the fight against malnutrition as well.
In his opening remarks, J.P. Nadda noted that the BJP and “good governance” have become synonymous, and lauded PM Modi’s success as he completed two decades in public office this year.
After the meeting, Nadda, the CMs and deputy CMs also visited the Gobardhan Project of the Varanasi Development Authority, the Deendayal Upadhyay Smriti Sthal, and Sarnath.
(Edited by Amit Upadhyaya)
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