Regulation should not become strangulation: Venkaiah Naidu

NEW DELHI: Regulations should not become strangulation, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said today, emphasising the need for minimising regulatory control to attract investment and ensure development in the country.

"If India has to welcome investors, the ease of doing business must be considerably enhanced," he said, addressing an event here.

Naidu said investments will come if the procedures are simple and if there is no harassment and corruption.

"The regulatory controls must be minimised and the procedures should be clear, simple, streamlined and digitalised so that there is very little ambiguity or discretion. The regulation should not become strangulation," the vice president said.

He said uncertainty and lack of information gives undesirable power to the implementing machinery.

"We must standardise procedures and inform all citizens what these procedures are," Naidu said inaugurating the Vigilance Awareness Week organised by the Central Vigilance Commission.

Apart from this, the cutting-edge administration with which the common man comes into contact with the government or its agencies needs a radical transformation, he said.

Naidu said people welcomed demonetisation or remonetisation because they realised temporary pain would bring them long-term gain.

"Why the people have welcomed the demonetisation, though it is painful for them. Because, they could understand the temporary pain is for long-term gain. And the idea of opening bank accounts to all people under Jan Dhan, understood by the public after demonetisation," the vice president said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on November 8 last year announced withdrawal of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from circulation.

Several opposition parties including the Congress and Mamata Banerjee's TMC have announced that they would observe the first anniversary of demonetisation as 'Black Day' and would hold protests across the country to highlight its "ill- effects" on the economy.

To counter the opposition protest, the ruling BJP has decided to observe the note-ban anniversary as "anti-black money day".

On the Goods and Services Tax (GST), touted as the biggest tax reform by the Modi government, Naidu said there might be certain shortcomings in the implementation of the GST but in the long run it is really going to improve the health of economy and going to create a very positive atmosphere.

He said the presence of strong civil society, including a free press, and independent judiciary was an important pre- condition for good governance.

"Unless you have free press, also if you don't have an independent judiciary, then good governance is not possible. The role of media and civil society in fighting the menace of corruption is also very very important. Media that is objective, balanced and neutral in its reporting and ethical, has a great importance," Naidu said.

He said those in leadership role should lead by example if development has to reach people.

"If the overhead tank is clean, then only we will get clean water. If overhead tank is itself polluted and you changed the tap, replace it by platinum or gold tap, you will not get pure water. Fortunately, in our country today, overhead tank is clean," Naidu said, referring to corruption-free governance under the Modi regime.

Talking about the effect of corruption, he said constant vigilance is required to see that the vast beautiful tree of our country is not eaten up by weeds and pests.

"The tree must be protected, preserved and nourished continuously by rejuvenating the entire eco-system," the vice president said.

The vice president said that procedures and implementation of laws should become more citizen-centric.

"Each citizen should be able to access quality services without harassment, undue delays and corrupt practices," Naidu said.

The vice president said that all-out efforts should be made to improve the educational system to inculcate strong values, ethical conduct and commitment towards the welfare of the society at large.

He said "black sheep" in all walks of life are the visible face of corruption.

"They thrive in a system that has low accountability, low transparency, cumbersome, poorly understood procedures and high discretionary powers. It is this system that we should reform and transform," the vice president said.