Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's speech at the release of Abhishek Singhvi's Book - "CANDID CORNER"

"I am truly delighted to be here in your midst today. The occasion is, of course, the release of a collection of Abhishek's columns. And, I am delighted to release this book. I have regularly read his columns over the past few years, so I am sure you will all enjoy reading the book. But I am also delighted to be here because this is, in a manner of speaking, a felicitation for Abhishek and I am really happy to felicitate him. Abhishek has been an active member of our party, but more importantly he has been an active member of the civil society of our national capital. As a concerned and involved citizen, he has championed many worthwhile causes and he deserves our gratitude for all this. I am delighted that he has now entered the Rajya Sabha. I am sure he will contribute enormously to a more informed debate on vital issues concerning our polity, our economy and our society.

In fact, the columns he has put together in this book should re-assure us that he would be a great asset to the Rajya Sabha. Our parliamentary democracy has from time to time been re-invigorated by the active participation of thoughtful and committed citizens like Abhishek. I have often urged professionals to join public life. It is important that they in fact do so. Our municipalities, our panchayats, our legislatures and our Parliament will greatly benefit from the active participation of professionals from various walks of national life. I know, this is easier said than done. The `barriers to entry', as economists would describe the phenomena so to speak, into public office have gone up steeply in recent years and it is not always easy for professionals to enter active politics. Indeed, the fact that we have more businessmen, than professionals entering legislatures testifies to the increasing role of such entry barriers. Hence, when we say we want more professionals in public life, we must at the same time stress the need for electoral reform, especially the funding of political parties and election campaigns.

This is of vital necessity if we wish to renew the confidence of ordinary people in our democratic institutions. If people find that only those with money power are able to secure election to public office, they will lose faith in the representative character of our democracy. Our party debated the issue of political funding and I was personally associated with that debate. Some practical ideas came out of that debate and we have implemented some of those ideas. I believe we must continue to pursue the agenda of reducing the role of money power in politics so that professionals find it indeed easier to enter public office.

This book covers a wide canvas, but I notice that its main concern is with issues pertaining to governance. I compliment Abhishek for repeatedly focusing public attention on issues of governance. Unless public opinion is properly mobilized in favour of change and an improvement in the quality of governance, there is little that Governments can do by themselves.

I do believe that our civil society must play its due role in improving the quality of governance. I welcome the more recent trend in our media to focus attention on local issues. In the past, a great deal of public debate used to be on high policies. Columnists and correspondents devoted their attention to national and global issues, neglecting local issues of much greater concern to most common people. I think we now have a better balance. I do think we should have an informed public discourse on national and global issues, but I also think we need equally informed discourse on local issues that impact on our daily life.

Now that Abhishek has entered Parliament, I am sure he will enliven and illuminate our debates on both national and local issues. I am looking forward to his candid interventions and to his lucid expositions. I sincerely hope he will feel inspired to continue to write and continue to engage the public on matters of interest to our people.

I wish Abhishek an active and fulfilling career in Parliament and I hope he will inspire younger members of the legal profession to work hard and serve the best interests of our citizens. I am very happy to release Abhishek's book. May his path be blessed."