Nagaland Governor Nikhil Kumar at the meet. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Patna, Nov. 29: Nagaland Governor Nikhil Kumar, who was all praise for the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government for the steps taken to rein in corruption, today commended the Lokayukta draft prepared by the state government saying that it should be implemented as soon as possible”.

“The state government has made a commendable effort in bringing a strong Lokayukta to rein in corruption. We must commend the government’s initiative and I hope that the bill is passed as soon as possible,” Nikhil said, while addressing a discussion session at Bihar Industries Association.

Nikhil, a former Delhi police commissioner, who had successfully contested the Lok Sabha election from Aurangabad on a Congress ticket, was addressing a discussion on “Governance in India, Challenges and Responses” organised by Asian Development Research Institute.

Stating that political stability is not the only condition for providing good governance, Nikhil, in an apparent reference to the RJD regime, said had it been so “that 15 years” would have provided good governance. “What is equally more important is social stability which encompasses the establishment of rule of law,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi said: “There are a large number of ministers, MPs, MLAs who lack vision, which is an important aspect of good governance, and that’s the reason why most of the chief ministers, ministers or public representatives indulge in routine work of disposing files.”

Senior journalist Swapan Dasgupta spoke on how good governance became the signature tune of political parties. He said: “Earlier people used to talk about development, which later transformed into a sustainable development. This again was changed with best practices, which was derived from the management lexicon before finally being christened as good governance.”