The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today made an intervention during the Retreat for G20 leaders, on the subject "Reform Experience and Thrust Forward." He was invited to speak on the subject and share his vision of reform, based on his own experiences, by Mr. Tony Abbott, the Prime Minister of Australia. In his intervention, the Prime Minister stressed that reforms cannot be done by stealth, but have to be people-driven and people-centric. He said reforms should take into account the issues being faced by people. He emphasized that reforms cannot be superficial, but should take into account the root causes of the issues involved. Only then can reforms be durable and long-lasting, he added. In this context, the Prime Minister illustrated by talking of a link between water availability and power. He said farmers often need cheap power to extract groundwater, because water is not otherwise available. However, if water is made available to them, then farmers may no longer require subsidized power. Hence the reform process could move forward taking into account root causes. The Prime Minister said there is bound to be resistance to reform, and therefore, it is essential to insulate the reform process from politics. He stressed that reform should be an institutionalized process. The Prime Minister said reforms should lead to simplification of processes, and should also involve improvements in governance processes.
