E-Paper
State governments clear any obstacle in path of projects under SWAGAT: PM Modi
The PM said that SWAGAT drew a lot of praise from the United Nations (UN) and was also conferred the prestigious award for public service, including the gold award received by Gujarat from the government of India for e-governance owing to SWAGAT during the Congress regime in 2011
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday expressed that the Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI) multi-nodal platform has been highly effective and said that when a project is reviewed under it, the state governments work hard to diligently eliminate any obstacles that may impede the project’s progress.
The PM was virtually addressing a program to mark the completion of 20 years of the `State Wide Attention on Grievances by Application of Technology’ (SWAGAT), being celebrated by the Gujarat government. During the event, the PM also interacted with the beneficiaries of the scheme.
Modi said that the destiny of any scheme is determined by the intention and vision of that scheme when it is conceived. He recalled that when the initiative was launched in 2003, he faced the common refrain that power changes everyone while serving as the chief minister of Gujarat.
Also Read: Modi’s ‘suicide note’ joke draws flak from Congress: ‘those laughing heartily…’
“I was clear that I would not become a slave to the restriction of the chair. I will remain among people and will be there for them,” he said.
The PM said that the idea behind SWAGAT was to welcome the views of the common citizens in democratic institutions, be it in legislation or solutions. “SWAGAT stands by the idea of ease of living and reach of governance”, he said. Modi underlined that the good governance model of Gujarat has found its own identity in the world due to the efforts made with all honesty and dedication.
He mentioned the International Telecom Organisation which presented the prime example of good governance by SWAGAT as e-transparency and e-accountability. The PM said that SWAGAT drew a lot of praise from the United Nations (UN) and was also conferred the prestigious award for public service, including the gold award received by Gujarat from the government of India for e-governance owing to SWAGAT during the Congress regime in 2011.
“For me, the biggest reward is that we could serve the people of Gujarat through SWAGAT”, the PM said, adding “In SWAGAT, we prepared a practical system.”
The first systems of public hearings under SWAGAT were created at the block and tehsil levels. After that, the district magistrate was made responsible at the district level while at the state level, Modi informed that he took the responsibility on his own shoulders. This, he said, helped him a great deal to understand the impact and reach of the initiatives and schemes and the relations between implementing agencies and the end beneficiaries, and along with this, SWAGAT empowered the citizens and gained credibility.
After becoming the prime minister, he started the PRAGATI programme at the Centre to review the progress of projects of national importance, and the concept was based on the SWAGAT initiative, Modi said.
Also Read: Congress getting people from Maharashtra to win polls : Smriti Irani
In the last nine years, PRAGATI has made a huge contribution to the “fast-paced development of the country,” the PM said, adding that projects worth ₹16 lakh crore have been reviewed under PRAGATI.
“Now PRAGATI has generated such an impact that when any project is listed for review under it, all states work hard to remove obstacles faced by that project, and when it finally comes for my review, they say they have cleared the project just two days ago,” Modi said.
Governance cannot be limited to only rules and regulations, it needs innovation in reaching out to the people, he added.
