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Quality of public discourse big challenge in India: Jaitley
New Delhi, Oct 11 (IANS) A big challenge for India is to improve its understanding of issues and the quality of public discourse even as the country is gaining prominence as a major economic power, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday.
“One of the big challenges is even though we are growing as an economy compared to our counterparts in the world, we are the largest democracy with free expression, we still have to improve both our understanding of issues and the quality of public discourse,” Jaitley said here.
Addressing the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)’s conference on “Auditing and Accounting in a Digital Era”, he asked the state auditor to help improve the quality of discourse which needed to mature itself and rise above slogans and propaganda.
“I find these days the maximum comments come from people who only understand the issue on the surface without going down even to the first level,” he said.
Jaitley said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) checks tax evasion and brings in more people in the tax net, demonetisation brings money operating outside the system into the banking system and the formalisation of the economy helps all who gets into it.
“The Aadhar will be used as a platform not for snooping (as some people tried to project). But Aadhar will be used as a platform in order to ensure that subsidies don’t remain an unquantified amount, made for an unidentifiable section of people but subsidies are a specific amount and must reach targeted beneficiaries.”
Jaitley said as the world gets into the age of technology and India becomes the fastest growing economy in the world, “I think we need parallely to educate ourselves on the quality of discourse and the discourse can’t be merely limited to a one-line tweets.”
According to the Minister, the CAG can “improve the quality of discourse and help our people and policy makers understand” issues. The CAG reports should be “worded in a manner that it could be understood easily” and that there is no “loose sentence” which gets picked up to hijack the entire discourse, he said.
Further, Jaitley highlighted the fact that public sector enterprises (PSUs), which are regulated by pre-1991 legal regime during a monopoly environment, need to have a level playing field with the private players in sectors where both players are there.
“Now in sectors where there are both public and private sector players, the environment (set of regulations) for functioning for the two is entirely different,” he said citing differences like auditing of transactions, tendering and recruitment.
“Time has now come for us to use some mindspace that the pre-1991 regime of their (PSUs) functioning in a monopoly environment was entirely different from their functioning in a competitive environment.”
The Minister called for deliberations on how to provide level playing field to PSUs “if we want them to exist and survive with full financial strength”.
–IANS
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Dr. Abhishek Verma Dedicates a Shelter in Memory of His Mother, Veena Verma, at KGMU; Inaugurated by Daughter Nicolle Verma
World-renowned business tycoon Dr. Abhishek Verma has supported Foodman Vishal Singh’s Hunger-Free World mission. In memory of his mother, Late Veena Verma, who was a 3 term Rajya Sabha MP.
Dr. Verma dedicated a state-of-the-art free permanent shelter for the attendants of patients at KGMU Medical University, Lucknow, under the aegis of Vijay Shree Foundation. His daughter, Nicolle Verma, inaugurated the shelter.
During the event, Foodman Vishal Singh honored Nicolle Verma by presenting her with a memento. Mrs. Nidhi Sharma and Avantika Yadav, associated with the organization, welcomed her with garlands. Following this, Nicolle Verma distributed essential items to the attendants and also handed out fruits. She became emotional remembering her grandmother on her birth anniversary.
On this occasion, she also inaugurated the “Veena Verma Sevalaya” in memory of her grandmother, Veena Verma, to serve the attendants. She expressed, “I feel proud that my family is engaged in nation-building as well as social service. Today, in collaboration with Vijay Shree Foundation founder Foodman Vishal Singh Ji, I feel immensely proud to dedicate this shelter for the poor, helpless, and needy attendants of patients battling serious illnesses like cancer. I am honored to be associated with the Hunger-Free World Mission for humanity.”
Inspired by the continuous humanitarian service provided by Vijay Shree Foundation over the past 17 years, Nicolle Verma donated 10 lakh rupees to support the cause. The purpose of this donation is to ensure that services continue for the needy attendants of patients suffering from severe illnesses in hospitals, as facilitated by Foodman Vishal Singh.
It is noteworthy that Dr. Abhishek Verma’s family has a legacy of public and philanthropic service. They are helping millions to carry forward the values and service work of their parents. On the occasion of his mother’s birth anniversary, Dr. Abhishek Verma dedicated this state-of-the-art permanent shelter at Lucknow Medical College to serve the attendants of patients through the Vijay Shree Foundation.
Supporting Foodman Vishal Singh’s Hunger-Free World mission, Dr. Abhishek Verma assured that he would continually support keeping this flame of humanity alive. He also promised to assist in providing medicines to the helpless patients.
Continuing her grandmother’s legacy of service, Nicolle Verma personally served food to the needy patients and attendants. She said, “It is our good fortune to have received the joy of doing this noble work today through Foodman Vishal Singh. I have taken another step forward in carrying my family’s values and cooperation by joining hands with the Vijay Shree Foundation. My father taught me to serve and help the needy, and I feel happy when I bring a smile to someone’s face.”
On the birth anniversary of the late Veena Verma, the event organizer, Vijay Shree Foundation founder Foodman Vishal Singh, said, “We feel proud and happy that Dr. Abhishek Verma, a globally renowned business tycoon, has extended his support to uplift our country from the hunger index. Today, on his mother’s birth anniversary, he inaugurated a state-of-the-art permanent shelter at Lucknow Medical College, which will always be helpful for the needy attendants of patients. It is a pleasure for me and the organization to receive the affection of Mr. Verma.”
The event was attended by General Manager Verma Family Office Hemant Garg, Sonu Rajput, and the organization’s volunteers, including Sandeep Singh, Parmeshwar Ji, Prashant Rao Gautam, Balram Singh, Ramesh Chaudhary, Suman, Jeetu, Anil, Suraj, Vinay, Manish Bhadauria, Manas Mehrotra, Vivek, Apurv, Happy, and others.
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