Venkaiah Naidu said that the freebie culture has spoiled the financial condition of many states.
New Delhi:
Outgoing Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said that the freebie culture has worsened the financial condition of many states.
Addressing the Indian Information Service Officers (IIS) of 2018 and 2019 batches who came to meet him at the Vice-President’s residence today, Shri Naidu cautioned against populist measures to garner votes by various political parties.
“The freebie culture has worsened the financial condition of many states. The government must certainly support the poor and needy, but at the same time give priority to health, education and infrastructure development,” he said.
Shri Naidu stressed the need for continuous dialogue between people and governments for citizen-centred and responsive governance.
He said that policy making and implementation should be a two-way process with people’s participation at all levels.
He said, “In a democracy, people need to be empowered through timely information about the policies and initiatives of the government in their mother tongue. On the other hand, governments also need to meet the expectations and aspirations of the people in an objective and time bound manner. needs to be informed about.”
Referring to the People’s Behavior Change campaign launched as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission, Shri Naidu said that the success of any reform depends on the cooperation of the people.
He further added that people will better understand and support an initiative when they are involved in its planning and implementation strategy from the very beginning.
Describing India as the world’s largest parliamentary democracy, he said that the aim of any reform process should be to make the lives of the people happy and prosperous.
“Therefore, the focus of all government policy measures should be on bringing lasting happiness to people’s lives,” he told officials, and at the same time, underscoring the need to endure “temporary pain for long-term gain”.
Noting that the ICT revolution and the spread of the Internet have fundamentally changed the way we consume news, he cautioned that this ‘ease of information’ comes with its associated risks.
“Misinformation, disinformation and fake news have emerged as new challenges that government communicators need to tackle round the clock,” he said.
The Vice President also cautioned against the misuse of social media by some anti-social elements, the Vice President called for curbing such tendencies at the earliest.
Drawing attention to the growing trend of ‘instant journalism’ triggered by the rise of the Internet and the expansion of social media, Shri Naidu expressed concern about the erosion of journalistic norms and ethos due to it.
He emphasized the importance of neutrality and objectivity in media reporting and said that news should not be bogged down with views.
He stressed, “Media is the fourth pillar of democracy and its neutrality, impartiality and impartiality are vital for the survival of India’s democratic ethos.”
The Vice President asked the young officers to bring forth many developmental stories from across the country.
He told them, “As government communicators you must make all efforts to ensure that the good work being done by various ministries and departments is adequately covered by the media.”
Describing information and psychological warfare as an important dimension of modern warfare, Shri Naidu advised the IIS officers to develop expertise in these emerging and strategic areas.
Noting the increasing frequency of extreme climate events and erratic weather patterns across the world, the Vice President asked young officials to run a mass media campaign for nature conservation and environment protection. “If you love nature, nature will protect you,” he said.
In his last address as the Vice President of India, Shri Naidu said that “the key to my rise from the son of an ordinary farmer to the second highest constitutional post of the country lies in hard work, unrelenting devotion and relentless journey. In part conversations with people.” He said that I have learned a lot by meeting and talking to people.
Congratulating the officer trainees for joining the prestigious civil service, he exhorted them to work for transforming the lives of the people in the country.
It may be noted that the Indian Information Service (IIS) is a central Group ‘A’ service whose members serve as media managers to the Government of India.
IIS officers, in their various capacities, act as an important communication link between the government and the people through dissemination of information and taking various government policies and schemes to the public at large.
Pro. (Dr.) Sanjay Dwivedi, Director General, IIMC, Ashish Goel, ADG, IIMC, Dr. Rinku Pegu, Associate Professor IIMC and Training Coordinator for IIS Officers, Officers of Indian Information Service batch of 2018 and 2019 were present. , On this occasion Prof. Sanjay Dwivedi also presented his book “Bharat Bodh Ka Naya Samay” to the Vice President.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)