Constructive criticism strengthens democracy: Modi on 3 years in office (Roundup)

Welcoming the diverse assessments of three years of his government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday underlined the significance of constructive criticism in strengthening democracy and assured the people that mistakes and shortcomings would be rectified.

Delivering his first "Mann Ki Baat" after completion of three years in office on Friday, Modi also took on the critics of his monthly radio address, which he said enabled him to become a member of every family in India.

"Audit and assessment of the performance of the present government in the last three years is happening all over on newspapers, social media or TV for the last 15 days. There have been many surveys and several opinion polls. I see this entire process as a very healthy sign," Modi said.

"Constructive criticism strengthens democracy, for an aware nation, an awakened nation, this churning is very important," he said, referring to the surveys which highlight both praise and criticism of his government's record so far.

He said the work done by his government was tested on every touchstone and analysed by every segment of society.

"This is a great process in democracy. I firmly believe that governments must be accountable in democracy and the public at large must be provided with report card of works done," he said, expressing gratitude for the critical and important feedback.

"The mistakes and the shortcomings once highlighted can be rectified. Whether something is good, little less effective, or bad, whatever it is, one has to learn from it and move ahead in life, putting the learning from it into practice."

"Some people take 'Mann Ki Baat' as a monologue and some criticise it from a political angle," he said admitting that he never thought that programme launched two years ago would make him a member of every Indian family.

"Now I feel as if I'm conversing with my family while sitting at home," said Modi, describing himself as "ordinary citizen" who, like all, is "influenced by good or bad things".

He said the release of the book "Mann Ki Baat: A Social Revolution on Radio" by Presidnet Pranab Mukherjee on Friday, was an inspirational event for him.

The book is a compilation by Rajesh Jain of Modi's monthly radio addresses. He also expressed his gratitude for UAE-based Indian artist Akbar Saheb who has done the illustrations in the book without taking money.

Pitching for World Yoga Day (June 21), Modi appealed to families to post pictures of their three generations performing the exercises together on 'Narendra Modi App' or 'MyGov', to give a new dimension to event which, he said, has attracted global attention in very short span of time.

"Much like it connects body, mind, heart and soul, yoga is now connecting the world. When disruptive forces are tearing the world apart, yoga has come as greet gift form India, uniting the world," he said.

Modi also promised daily postings about yoga on Twitter till the eve of the Yoga Day and urged the people to contribute towards promoting the "movement on preventive health care".

Focusing on the upcoming World Environment Day, he announced launch of a "massive movement" for waste collection across 4,000 cities of the country from June 5, under which separate bins -- green for liquid waste and blue for dry waste -- will be installed in these cities to develop a culture of segregating the two waste types.

"We must not treat garbage as waste, it is wealth, a resource," he said, stressing the importance of waste management.

Modi also greeted the nation on beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims keep a dawn-to-dusk fast.

Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic calendar, ends with Eid ul-Fitr, and depending on the lunar calendar that Muslims follow it lasts either 29 or 30 days, with sighting of the new moon as the indicator.

--IANS

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