Shorthand Dictation 80 Words per minute “ Governance and Politics” , Test 10 Minutes with 10 Minutes Audio Dictation, Shorthand Outline and Text Matter. Test 14
Mr. Deputy Chairman, Sir, let me say, at the outset, that I too, like millions who voted this Government in/ am deeply enthused by the prospects of a transformation of our country’s governance and politics, and make no bones about/ either my optimism or high expectations from this Government over the next 60 months.
10 Sir, even the most generous amongst/ us will admit that the country is facing serious and challenging times- a headwind self-created by many years of extravagance, / poor governance and brazen corruption. This tasks, therefore, for this Government are neither easy nor simple. The problems can’t be (100) wished away or tackled through statements and announcements alone, but with months and years of hard and decisive governance, actions/ and management of the economy. Sir, I believe the President’s Address is a good first step, and this, along with/ the forthcoming Budget could provide necessary stimulus for our economy to recover and transform it to a sustainably growing/ investing and a job-creating economy. Sir, while I support the Motion, let me put forth a new suggestions to/ the Government, First of all, Sir, I hope that regardless of the majority or strength in Parliament, this Government adopts (200) an approach of consensus and is sensitive to all sensible opinions made b Parliamentarians big or small. Humility and consensus/ is more consistent with the notion of public service that Prime Minister Modi has described politics to be. This in/ itself would be a big departure from the arrogance of the last ten years, where it seemed that opinions of/ small parties and individual MPs didn’t matter in any discourse. Sir, I have a few more suggestions. Some colleagues in / the Opposition have talked about ‘maximum governance and minimum government’ is absolutely the right thing, both in terms of the cost of the Government and the effectiveness of/ the Government vis-à-vis the citizens they serve. The per capita on a PPP adjusted basis, the cost/ or our government is surely amongst the highest in the world, and, if adjusted for governance effectiveness, is probably amongst the/ least efficient in the world.
Sir, I would argue that the concept of minimum government is not just about Ministers/ with multiple Ministries, unless these are bound together with cost-saving and efficiency synergies. Some of the combinations currently do (400) not pass that test, and such bundling could actually end up slowing down the decision making. Sir, maximum governance, on/ the other hand, apart from a hard-working. Government, Ministers and bureaucracy, must also be expanded to mean rebuilding or / creating new independent institutions like regulators and equipping them with budgets and capacity. The maximum governance theme needs to be / expanded into deep, decisive governance reforms; that hinges around improving throughput and responsiveness of Government, and, at the same time, / creating transparent, independent, credible institutions of governance; not some symbolic effort like the previous Administrative Reforms Commission, but a deeply (500) felt need to modernize and make more effective performance off Government and its institutions. Sir, this re-architecting and change in / our Governance is critical to the future of our country. The capture and corrosion of our institutions by politics and / vested interests has to be reversed. Sir, we are a trillion dollar economy. That was also mentioned by some friends / in the Opposition. But the size of the economy and the statistical newsfeed we have been fed over the last / few years cover up the serious structural flaws. These flaws have come home to roost with 12 quarters of GDP / decline, an almost full stop of investment and Government finances that have taken us to a fiscal precipice and is (600) now resting there, thanks to some adept book keeping and accounting in recent times. It is critical to address these / structural issues in our economy and Government finances if we are to set the economy back on a sustainable high / growth path. Let me quickly summarise these structural issues. Sir, the first one is the fiscal responsibility and the whole / architecture of Government spending. The second one is the structural problem leading to the financial and banking sector. The financial / sector which was for many, many years seen as a clean and well-regulated one is today plagued with allegations (700) of money laundering and other perceptions that make investing in India high risk investment. The other big worry is the / health of PSU Banks which are owned by the people of India but seem to have been run like some / people’s personal fiefdoms with lakhs and crores of NPAs dominating their balance sheets and writing off taxpayers equity. Regulatory competence, / here again needs to examined which allows 9 to 10 Industrial groups in this country to borrow almost 90 / per cent of the Indian banking systems net worth and creating the ‘not too big to fail’ syndrome putting the (800) banks and taxpayers on the hook rather than the promoters.