PM Narendra Modi addresses the nation through Town Hall

He also inaugurated a merchandise portal, whose proceeds will go for the cleaning up the Ganga River as well as distributed prizes for various quizzes and contests held on the portal. 

Talking about a common belief that 'good governance is bad politics', the Prime Minister said that India needs participatory governance, which is now possible owing to technological advancements.

He said, "The spirit of a democracy is incomplete if one thinks the citizen's role stops at voting. Often, governments think only about winning the next election and then their policies are also shaped accordingly."

He emphasised that 'last mile delivery' is as important as policies, whose benefits must reach the intended beneficiaries.

Blaming the PM for everything that happens, even at the lowest level of administration, it can be good politically...or for TRP but it will not help in offering good governance to the people, he said.

He also reminded that good governance means those processes that are redundant do not exist. "Responsibility with accountability is hallmark of good governance," said the Prime Minister.

PM Modi, while addressing the Town Hall, said that India is among the fastest growing economies in the world.

He also reminded everyone that it is more important to focus on preventive health care because no matter how many policies a government implements, unless people come forward to utilise these policies, the overall health of the country can never improve.

If there is one sector that can power the economy it's the agriculture sector, the PM said at the Town Hall.

"The unique spirit of our villages must remain and at the same time they must have facilities associated with cities," said the PM.

He also said, "Smart city is a concept for cities and for villages we have Smart City+ Mission - 300 Rurban villages," in a reply to a query that if the government is thinking only about smart cities but also smart villages.

Talking about the improvement of the textile sector, he said, "Khadi for nation and Khadi for fashion, this must be our guiding principle. If we spend just 5% of our total spend on clothes on handloom and khadi and we will transform lives of our poor."

He also took questions on foreign policy, tourism and on volunteering from people calling from as far as the US Silicon Valley and other countries.

To Modi, the bottom-line of all foreign policies "is only about India First."

Narendra Modi thanked the citizens for associating with MyGov in such large numbers.

He continues to take questions.

Image: Narendra Modi at the Town Hall/MyGOvIndia Twitter