Reform has to be people-driven: Modi at G20

Brisbane: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday told the G20 leaders that reform has to be driven by the people and cannot be implemented by stealth.

Addressing the gathering of G20 leaders here, the prime minister said that reforms have to be "people-centric and people-driven", according to tweets posted by the ministry of external affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.

"Reform is bound to face resistance... must be insulated from political pressures", he said.

"Reform has to be driven by the people....cannot be by stealth."

"Globally, reforms are handicapped with perception of being government programmes, a burden on the people, this needs to change," Modi said.

"Reform is a continuous multi-stage process... must be institutionalized.""Reforms should lead to simplification of processes... and processes of governance must be reformed," he said.