Rather than dollars, we need ideas and knowledge, Modi tells World Bank chief-Times of India
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday told World Bank president Jim Yong Kim that India requires ideas, knowledge and expertise "rather than dollars" as there is a need to focus on developing a base of skilled people keeping the future in mind.
During a meeting here, Modi also suggested to Kim that the cleaning of the Ganga would be a very inspiring project for the World Bank.
"My meeting with World Bank president Mr Jim Yong Kim was very fruitful. We discussed several ways of working together in the times to come," Modi said.
In a series of tweets, he said the two talked about the importance of scale and the need to work on a scale that inspires people and positively transforms their lives.
"Rather than dollars, we are more interested in knowledge & expertise of World Bank. Dr Kim agreed & said WB can be our information bank," the Prime Minister said.
"We want ideas from the World Bank not only on mass production but also on production by masses, which will benefit our workforce," he added.
Noting that the world today focusses on trade in goods, he said that in future the core issue will be how to get skilled people. "We need to work in this direction".
Modi also laid emphasis on speedy implementation of programmes undertaken by the World Bank.
"We live in a world where speed matters. Quick execution is essential. Speeding up World Bank projects will surely increase the impact," he said.
Narendra Modi uses 'Zero Hour' for idea exchange at Cabinet meetings
NEW DELHI: Despite the perception of being a martinet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is quite comfortable with allowing a discussion on political issues outside the official agenda at the end of cabinet meetings.
Though dubbed as "zero hour", the free-wheeling discussions where ministers can bring up any topic they feel relevant for the cabinet's informal consideration actually lasts about half an hour.
Sources said the practice is a spill-over from when Modi was Gujarat chief minister, the difference being that then the zero hour happened at the start of cabinet meetings and Modi absented himself during the deliberations.
"In Gujarat Modi would join the cabinet meetings after the informal part was over. The idea was to let ministers speak up without feeling hesitant due to his presence," said a minister.
But after moving to Delhi, while Modi has continued the zero hour session, he chooses to listen to ministerial colleagues though he does not chip in too often.
The exercise is aimed at bringing issues to the PM's notice and getting a sense of the cabinet on how a particular situation or development is playing out in terms of its public perception or political ramifications.
The discussions, particularly as they are a regular feature, provide a contrast to the previous UPA cabinet that rarely discussed matters that were out of agenda.
UPA ministers almost never broke the unspoken law expect when on rare occasions a discussion was initiated by a senior minister - a hint that it was officially sanctioned.
The closest UPA came to a similar mechanism was the group of ministers on media headed by then finance minister P Chidambaram that could take up current events and discussion possible political interventions.
The zero hour mechanism could prove useful in helping NDA brass get a feedback and serve as a sounding board for policy decisions as well.
The Modi cabinet holds its discussions without officials barring the cabinet secretary and national security advisor who are permanent invitees to ministerial discussions.
Informal political discussions were fairly common during the previous NDA government when then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was prepared to hear his colleagues on issues of the day. But they were not structured in the form of a zero hour.
No comments:
Post a Comment