India minister: Over 2,000 obsolete rules and laws scrapped in 9 years

New Delhi: Over 2,000 rules and laws were scrapped by the Centre in the last nine years for ease of governance and ease of business, said Jitendra Singh, the Minister of State, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions on Sunday.

The Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has demonstrated the courage and conviction to do away with such rules which were causing inconvenience to the citizens and many of which had persisted since the time of British Raj. The ultimate aim of good governance is to bring ease of living to the citizens, he said while speaking as Chief Guest after presenting Yashraj Bharati Samman (YBS) Awards at a ‘Gratitude ceremony’.

The minister recalled that soon after the government came to power in May 2014, within two to three months, the practice of getting certificates attested by gazetted officers was done away with. Thereafter within a year, the Prime Minister spoke from the ramparts of the Red Fort about the abolition of interview in job recruitment so that a level playing field could be provided. In pensions, face recognition technology was introduced so that the elderly citizens did not have to go through the tedious process of getting a life certificate. Most of the functioning was converted online and in order to bring in transparency, accountability and citizen participation, the human interface was reduced to the bare minimum.

Talking about grievance redressal, Jitendra Singh said that the grievance redressal mechanism was shifted to CPGRAMS as a result of which about 2 million grievances are received every year in comparison to just 200,000 every year because this government followed a policy of time-bound redressal and gained the confidence of the people.

In the field of healthcare, the Minister said that the use of technology and telemedicine during Covid pandemic has shown how innovation can deliver healthcare in the remote and rural areas.

This government has not only promoted technology and innovation but also Startups to undertake new innovations even in the health sector thereby transforming lives of citizens.