‘Not a day off in 25 years’: Mark Carney praises PM Modi’s work ethic

New Delhi: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has praised Narendra Modi’s approach to governance and work ethic, saying the Indian Prime Minister remains strongly committed to delivering welfare schemes directly to ordinary citizens despite facing policy and administrative challenges.Speaking at an interactive event hosted by Sydney’s Lowy Institute on Thursday, Carney recalled his recent meeting with Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi and called him a leader who is deeply committed to implementing reforms that benefit people at the grassroots.

“He is a person who is very focused on delivering services to rural households, to people on the streets,” said Kani, explaining how India’s financial and digital reforms are designed to ensure benefits flow directly to citizens.Talking about India’s digital payments transformation, Kani highlighted the role of the Unified Payments Interface in expanding financial inclusion and reducing leakage in welfare distribution. “A huge motivation for payments system transformation, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and other things, is to get money flowing directly to individuals without leakage and bring hundreds of millions of people into the formal economy,” he said.Kani also commented on Prime Minister Modi’s political work ethic. “He has never had a day off in the last 25 years, whether as chief minister or prime minister of Gujarat,” he said, days after he embarked on a four-day visit to India aimed at rebuilding relations after diplomatic tensions in 2023.