Naidu's style of governance praised

By Sandeep Dikshit

HYDERABAD, MARCH 24. It must have been a warm day for the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu, as he basked in the praise liberally lavished by the American President during his address at the HI-TEC City here. Beginning his speech by pointing out that ``the Andhra Pradesh CEO was very much known in the U.S. and very much admired'', Mr. Clinton made several references to Mr. Naidu's style of governance and the strides made by the State in the field of information technology (IT), getting the intonation right each time.

Speaking after Mr. Naidu had dispensed with his pre- distributed speech copy and relied instead on transparencies, Mr. Clinton immediately won the audience over by wishing he had also brought some slides because ``if a picture can speak a thousand words, you will remember more of what he has spoken and little of what I am going to speak''.

Referring to the success notched on the world stage by companies such as Satyam, Wipro and Infosys, Mr. Clinton felt Mr. Naidu deserved a lot of credit for the right kind of governance which allowed these companies to grow. ``Little wonder that Hyderabad is now known as Cyberabad,'' he said.

In another tribute to the CEO's style of governance, Mr. Clinton said some feel that the 21st century belonged to Internet which will make the Government irrelevant, but ``if you look at the example of this city and this State, you will realise that good governance is also necessary''. The Governments all over the world should be small, accountable and more democratic, he recommended, ``and the Chief Minister's role in accomplishing this is evident''.

Mr. Clinton said Internet would soon make it possible for him to get his America issued licence renewed in Hyderabad. ``Who knows you may see me touring the streets of the city causing a traffic jam,'' he said amid laughter. Andhra Pradesh, he said, had done a remarkable job in providing better healthcare to children and is also attempting to provide IT in schools which will ensure overnight access to material that is today offered only by the rich schools.

Referring to his video-conferencing session in Mr. Naidu's presence with people working on empowerment projects in 23 Andhra Pradesh districts, Mr. Clinton expressed amazement over the number of people who have access to micro-credit.

Mr. Clinton's thorough home work was evident when he pointed out that of the four Indo-Americans accompanying him, two had strong links with Hyderabad.

While Mr. Clinton frequently appreciated the strides made in IT under Mr. Naidu's tutelage, the Chief Minister was quick to point out that the State meant more than just IT. Referring to the Golf shirt presented to the U.S. President earlier in the day, Mr. Naidu hoped that Mr. Clinton would ``remember us in the morning when he puts on the shirt made in Hyderabad''.

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