Obama lauds efforts in Indian villages to empower citizens

New York, Sep 21 (PTI) US President Barack Obama lauded
efforts being made in villages across India to empower
citizens and promote transparency in governance at a global
forum here, which incidentally India has decided not to join.
The forum on 'Open Government Partnership' is a US and
Brazil-led eight nation initiative aimed at supporting
national efforts to promote transparency, fight corruption,
strengthen accountability and empower citizens.
Despite being invited, India has not joined the
initiative, which has been embraced by about 40 other nations
as well as civil society.
Obama said the partnership is working to transform how
governments serve their citizens in the 21st century, an era
where "new generations across the Middle East and North Africa
assert the old truth that government exists for the benefit of
their people."
"Countries from Mexico to Turkey to Liberia have passed
laws guaranteeing citizens the right to information. From
Tanzania to Indonesia -- and as I saw first hand during my
visit to India -- rural villages are organising and making
their voices heard, and getting the public services that they
need," he said.
Obama said that civil society groups in countries like
Chile, Kenya and the Philippines are giving citizens new tools
to report corruption.
"This is exactly the kind of partnership that we need
now, as emerging democracies from Latin America to Africa to
Asia are all showing how innovations in open government can
help make countries more prosperous and more just... and as
young people everywhere, from teeming cities to remote
villages, are logging on, and texting, and tweeting and
demanding government that is just as fast, just as smart, just
as accountable," the US President said.
Earlier, a senior US administration official said while
India met the criteria and was very much invited to be part of
the partnership, it has as of this point chosen not to join.
However, the Indian civil society is represented in the
steering committee, the official said.
The initiative has its roots in a challenge Obama gave to
nations at last year's UN General Assembly to return a year
later with specific commitments to promote transparency, fight
graft,energise civic engagement and leverage new technologies.
Besides the US and Brazil, the countries which are part
of this eight-member group are Indonesia, Mexico, South
Africa, Norway, the Philippines and Britain.
"Today, we're joined by nations and organisations from
around the world that are answering this challenge. This, I
believe, is how progress will be achieved in the 21st century
-- meeting global challenges through global cooperation,
across all levels of society."
Obama said the eight founding nations of the partnership
have agreed to an 'Open Government Declaration,' under which
they pledge to be more transparent at every level since more
information on government activity should be open, timely and
freely available to the people.
"We pledge to engage more of our citizens in
decision-making -- because it makes government more effective
and responsive. We pledge to implement the highest standards
of integrity -- because those in power must serve the people,
not themselves. And we pledge to increase access to technology
-- because in this digital century, access to information is a
right that is universal," he said.
In putting these principles into practice, every country
that joins this partnership would work with civil society
groups to develop an action plan of specific commitments. On
its part the US is launching an online tool called "We the
People" to allow Americans to directly petition the White
House.
Obama said the US is willing to share this technology
with any government so that its citizens also have the same
resource to question their government.
The US will also work to reform and expand protections
for whistle-blowers who expose government waste, fraud and
abuse.
"We're continuing our leadership of the global effort
against corruption, by building on legislation that now
requires oil, gas and mining companies to disclose the
payments that foreign governments demand of them," the
President said.