Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu said on Tuesday that the culture of gifting has led to a deterioration in the financial health of many states.
Addressing Indian Information Service (IIS) officers of the 2018 and 2019 batches who came to call on him at his official residence here, Naidu warned against populist moves to garner votes from various parties politicians
“The government should definitely support the poor and needy, but at the same time it should prioritize the development of health, education and infrastructure,” he said.
The vice-president highlighted the role of communication in bridging the gap between governments and citizens.
“In a democracy, people should be empowered through timely information about government policies and initiatives in their mother tongue. On the other hand, governments should also be informed of people’s expectations and aspirations of objective and timely manner,” Naidu said.
He stressed the need for a constant dialogue between the people and the governments for a citizen-centric and sensitive governance. He said policy making and implementation should be a two-way process with people’s participation at every stage.
Describing India as the world’s largest parliamentary democracy, he said the aim of any reform process should be to make people’s lives happy and prosperous.
“Therefore, the focus of all government policy measures should be on bringing lasting happiness to people’s lives, while at the same time stressing the need to endure temporary pain for a benefit to long term,” he said.
Noting that “the ICT revolution and the spread of the Internet have fundamentally changed the way news is consumed, he warned that this ‘ease of information’ comes with associated risks.”
“Misinformation, disinformation and fake news have emerged as new challenges that need to be quickly addressed by government communicators around the clock,” he said.
The Vice President also warned against the misuse of social media by certain anti-social elements and asked to curb such trends at the earliest.
Drawing attention to the growing trend of “instant journalism” brought about by the advent of the Internet and the spread of social media, Naidu expressed concern over the erosion of journalistic norms and ethos due to of this
He stressed the importance of neutrality and objectivity in media reporting and said “news should not be mixed with opinion”.
“The media is the fourth pillar of democracy and its neutrality, objectivity and fairness are crucial to the survival of India’s democratic ethos,” the vice president said.
He also asked the young officers to present many development stories from across the country.
Terming information and psychological warfare as an important dimension of modern warfare, Naidu advised IIS officers to develop expertise in these emerging and strategic areas.
Referring to the increasing frequency of extreme climate events and erratic weather patterns across the world, the Vice President asked the young officers to mount a media campaign for nature conservation and environmental protection.
“If you love nature, nature will protect you,” he told them.
During the speech, his last as vice president, Naidu said, “The key to my rise from a common farmer’s son to the country’s second highest constitutional office lies in hard work, single-minded devotion and travel and interaction constants. with people all over the country. I’ve learned a lot by meeting and talking to people.”
–IANS
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(Only the title and image for this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
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