BANGALORE, October 18: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said according priority to the uplift of the impoverished was an indication of good governance.
He was speaking after inaugurating Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Dr. K.M. Munshi Institute of Good Governance here by signing a slogan prioritising good governance.
Only those who understand the plight of people can provide a pro-people government, he said, and added that though it was impossible to meet people’s expectations, good and transparent governance could provide them a little solace.
Power offered by the people in a democratic set-up should not be used for promoting self-interest, but to offer transparent, efficient and corruption-free governance, besides extending social justice. This would be possible when people’s problems are converted into programmes and they are implemented effectively. “The stress should be on making everyone in society feel that the government belongs to them,” he said.
Pointing that caste and class systems were a major hurdle to development, he said it was not possible to eliminate them by delivering lectures. The dream of creating a classless and casteless society could be realised only by extending equal opportunities through a democratic apparatus and by decentralisation of power in a real sense, he said.
Taking a dig at the media, which, according to him, has transformed enormously and developed a tendency to sensationalise issues, Mr. Siddaramaiah regretted that news reports about the impoverished and the oppressed had lost importance in recent days. “The media can play a major role in transforming society by lending voice to the voiceless,” he said.
Enormous challenges
The former Chief Justice of India, M.N. Venkatachaliah, said the challenges posed by the collapse of feudal, rigid and tyrannical order were enormous, and the next few years would be tiring for any government.
